


For Better or Worse

by Cameo_Cat



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien keeps unintentionally making inappropriate jokes, Adrinette, Angst, Chat Blanc - Freeform, Chloè redemption, F/M, Fluff, Lila just sucks so much, Puppeteer 2, finale fix it, some light swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2020-06-27 15:43:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 74,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19793959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cameo_Cat/pseuds/Cameo_Cat
Summary: Marinette confesses to a wax-statue of Adrien to help her get over her nerves of confessing to the real thing. Only problem? That wasn't a statue!Follow these kiddos as they navigate through the repercussions this confession brings. Disappointment, mature talks, unabashed flirting, new perspectives, conflicting feelings, and ultimately love.Puppeteer 2 fix-it fic turned longer fic. Updating tags as they come.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> The original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/186261483836/for-better-or-worse

This day was turning into a nightmare. What was Alya thinking? Marinette couldn’t confess right now. So many things weren’t right! Even with Tikki’s encouraging words Marinette still found a black hole of doubt swirling in her chest. She left the bathroom repeating that she could do this if only to help her convince herself that this wasn’t insane.

She looked up and saw Adrien across the room. “Huh?” Marinette got closer, “They finished the statue already? I thought it was gonna take longer. That’s the whole reason we all got to come here in the first place.”

It was an incredible likeness. She stood to admire it for a moment before an idea popped into her head. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she could practice her confession on the Adrien statue before confronting the real thing.

“Okay. A little practice never hurt anyone. Not like anyone’s around to see me put my foot in my mouth.” Marinette looked around to make sure no one was watching. “Hello Adrien, it’s me, uh, Marinette. No–he knows who you are already!” Marinette chastized herself.

“Focus, Marinette!” she took a deep breath and turned back to the statue. “Uh hey, Adrien, sorry for running off so suddenly. I saw the finished figure back on the main floor. You look good! I mean it looks good! Not to say you don’t look good but–”

Marinette dropped her head into her hands. “Why is this so hard?”

She stared back at the statue and sighed. “Figures, I can’t even tell a wax figure how I feel. Even if he rejects me I want him to know though. It’s not just a little crush but real admiration. I–I–”

She squared her shoulders and looked at the statue. They even got the exact right shade of green for his eyes. “Adrien, I…I like you. Not just as a friend. I’ve had a crush on you since you gave me your umbrella that rainy day after school. Getting to know you over the time we’ve spent together has only solidified what I feel. You’re sweet and kind and brave. You see the best in everyone and have the patience of a saint. Especially with me. That’s why this is so hard, trying to tell you how I feel without spewing word vomit. I get nervous because while the fantasy in my head is nice, it can come crumbling down with one word from you. Now more than ever I feel like I need that fantasy. I’m under so much pressure with things I can’t even tell anyone about.”

She placed a hand on Wax-Adrien’s cheek. The wax was still warm it seems. “I like you, Adrien. I hope that you can like me the same way.”

She leaned closer as if to kiss him but stopped. “Stupid.” she muttered and shuffled past him towards the elevator.

“Wait!” A hand grabbed her wrist. She turned back and saw that the Adrien statue was holding her. Wait. Not a statue.

IT! WAS! NOT! A! STATUE!

“Adrien?” Marinette’s brain started to fry. He was playing a prank! Of course they didn’t finish the statue that fast! He was just trying to play a harmless prank and she–oh no!

“Marinette, I–”

“Why didn’t you say something?” She wretched her arm away from him, “That wasn’t funny, Adrien! Not funny at all!”

She ran back toward the elevator. “Goodness, I’m such an idiot!” She slammed the button for any other floor. The doors started to shut but a hand shot through and pried them back open.

“Marinette, wait, please,” Adrien begged as he jumped into the elevator. The doors slid shut behind him blocking Marinette’s exit. “I’m sorry. It was meant to just be a prank. I thought it may cheer you up.”

Marinette squeezed herself into the farthest corner of the elevator. “Why would I need cheering up?” she muttered.

“Because uh,” Adrien fiddled with his ring, “I thought you were mad at me. What Nino said and then you taking off like that I thought that maybe I had done something wrong. That you hated me for some reason. The prank was supposed to lighten the mood I guess.”

“I don’t hate you.” Marinette looked past him at the elevator key pad. In her rush she had hit one of the topmost floors. This elevator wasn’t exactly speedy either. She was stuck with this conversation whether she liked it or not.

“I gathered as much,” Adrien stood in the corner opposite of her. “Did you really mean all that? What you said when you thought I was a statue?”

Now was the time to deny. Deny everything and let this whole mortifying experience die in a hole where it belongs.

But Marinette didn’t want to deny it. It was the truth. Every single bit of it. “I can’t lie to you, Adrien. I…I did mean it. I meant every word.”

There was a long silence.

“Say something,” she squeezed her eyes shut, “Please.”

“Sorry, I was letting it sink in.” He finally said. “I guess I wasn’t expecting a confession today.”

“This is exactly why I didn’t want to say anything. I knew it would ruin everything.” Marinette slumped to the ground. “I feel so stupid.”

“No, you’re not,” Adrien sat down next to her, “To be honest I was rather shocked. I thought you liked Luka.”

“Luka is great.” Marinette shrugged, “But he isn’t you.”

She dared to meet his eyes once more. He was looking at her with a mixture of awe and pity. “And I’m not Kagami.”

“Kagami?” Adrien’s eyebrows raised, “What does Kagami have to do with you confessing to me?”

“Adrien, please, I know you like her. I helped you go on a date with her for goodness sake.” that dark curling snake of jealousy constricted around her heart.

“Right…” he stared back at the ground, “If you’ve liked me for as long as you’ve said then why did you help me? Why would you offer to help set me up with someone else?”

She drew her knees up to her chest, “Because seeing you happy means more to me than my crush. If I can’t be the one to make you happy then I’d rather see you with someone who could. It doesn’t matter what I feel in that instance. It’s not my heart.”

“Marinette,” Adrien hesitated to put on a hand on her shoulder, “I don’t deserve you.”

“Don’t try and–”

“I mean it!” he turned to her fully so he was kneeling in front of her, both of his hands clasped on her shoulders, “You said how I was kind and brave but you are ten times that. You are without a doubt one of the kindest, bravest, most talented, passionate, and selfless people I have ever met. You are so confident and driven that I can’t help but look at you in wonder. The only person I can think of coming anywhere close to how incredible you are is Ladybug herself. But you don’t need a suit or powers to be amazing. You’re our everyday Ladybug… _my_ everyday Ladybug.”

Marinette was at a loss for words. Would it be too much to cry right now?

The doors pinged open and Alya and Nino were standing there waiting with Manon between them.

“Oh hey,” Alya surveyed the scene, “We were helping Theo look for Adrien but you seem to be in good hands.”

“Alya!” Marinette made a break for the door.

“See you back down in the studio!” Alya was quicker and hit the button for the studio floor. She gave Marinette a wink before the doors shut again. Adrien and Marinette alone again for another long trip back down.

“I am going to kill her.” Marinette banged her head against the door.

“Is that what they were talking about before?” Adrien asked, “The whole thing about leaving us alone together was to…”

“Give me a chance to confess. Yes.” Marinette turned back around, “Not that she told me that earlier. Which is why I panicked and bolted earlier.”

“I still don’t fully understand.”

“Alya and Nino thought they were helping because I’ve been trying for months to tell you how I feel–”

“Not that.” Adrien interrupted her, “I wonder how someone as spectacular as you could see so much in someone as lame as me.”

“You are not lame, Adrien.” Marinette smiled as she took her place sitting back across from him. “You are probably the least lame person I know.”

“You only say that because you like me.”

“No, I don’t. Also, this self-deprecating behaviour of yours has to stop. You are a wonderful individual. You’re a master fencer, you play piano beautifully, you’re fluent in Chinese, and you’re a talented voice actor as well as a model.”

“Only because my father has me practice all those things until I’m perfect at them.”

“What about video games? You’re second only to me, after all. You’re also insanely smart. I think that you and Max are the only ones who got straight A’s on their report cards last term. That is all you, Adrien.”

He finally smiled at her again. “Not to say you don’t have a dorky side too. You’re still socially awkward and make dumb jokes from time to time but it’s cute.”

“You’re not perfect either. You can get a bit scatter brained when caught off guard and you seem to have an intimate relationship with the floor.” he smirked in a way that made her heart race.

“Oh, it’s like that is it?” She laughed, “You know in the anime world my clumsiness would be seen as adorable and endearing.”

“You watch anime?” Adrien’s head perked up, “I didn’t know that about you.”

The rest of the elevator ride was spent in comfortable conversation. It went from them talking about what anime shows they liked to other interests. Music, food, video games, favorite puns. By the time they reached the studio floor again they were leaning on one another howling with laughter with bad joke after bad joke.

“Okay. Okay. I got another one.” Adrien said as he and Marinette got off the elevator, “What do you call a fake noodle?”

“What?” Marinette giggled.

“An impasta!” the two broke down into hysterics again.

“It’s so dumb!”

“If it’s so dumb then why is it so funny?”

“I got one. What kind of tea is the hardest to swallow?”

“Reali-tea?” Adrien guessed.

“Boo! You stole my joke!” she pounded on his chest.

“Get better jokes then,” he grabbed her hands to stop their assault. “I could send you a link to a site I know. The best kind of bad jokes you’ll ever find.”

“Adrien, there you are.” Theo walked up to them, “Where did you go?”

“Oh sorry,” Adrien smiled in apology, “I, uh, got stuck in the elevator.”

“Well, you’re back now. Come then, I’d like to get your figure done today.”

They walked back into the studio. Nino, Alya, and Manon had yet to make it back. Adrien placed his other hand inside the mold. “Now don’t go running off this time. I need to go grab more wax.”

With that Marinette and Adrien were alone once again.

“Hey, Marinette?” Adrien said.

“Yeah?” she plopped herself into a chair next to him.

“We kinda got off-track earlier in the elevator. I just started gushing about you and then you said all those sweet things to me and then we started with the jokes and well…” he took a deep breath, “I think we still need to address the elephant in the room.”

“Right,” Marinette was hoping that they may have just forgotten about her confession with all the other stuff that had happened, “You have an answer for me?”

“I feel like I need to explain first.”

Oh that was a great way to start this! He was gonna break her heart, wasn’t he? Of course he doesn’t like you like that! He’s crushing on Kagami! Stupid! Stupid!

“Stop that.” Adrien’s voice broke her from her thoughts.

“Huh?”

“You’re panicking. I can see it in your eyes.” he motioned for her to come closer. He took her hand with his free one, “There’s nothing for you to be scared about.”

“Don’t give me false hope like that.”

“I mean it.” he held her hand tighter, “You’re amazing, Marinette. What all I said before I meant it. I just never thought of you that way.”

“Adrien…”

“That’s not what I meant!” he pulled her closer so she couldn’t run away again, “I mean with Luka and my own warring feelings I just never explored what I felt for you more deeply. You were my friend and that’s all I thought there was to it.”

“Were?” Her heart started to beat faster.

“Yeah,” Adrien looked deep into her eyes, “You…you’re great. You mean a lot to me and I–I–I think I–I don’t know. It’s all happening so fast that I can’t think straight. All I do know is that I like you. I like you as a friend but also not. There’s something there. Something has always been there like a detail in a painting you never noticed before that changes how you see the rest of it.”

“What are you saying?” She didn’t dare so much as breathe at that moment.

“I feel something for you. I may not have it all figured out now but I’d like to.” the bell dinged and he released his hand from the mold. He held both her hands in his. “Can we talk about this? Really talk about it? Say somewhere more private and over a plate of cookies?”

“I’d like that.” she touched her forehead to his. “I’d like that a lot.”


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette have a loooooong talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to expand on this fluffy fix-it fic.

“And then you, Nino and Manon came back and that was the end of the conversation.” Marinette was on the phone informing Alya of what happened earlier that day at the wax museum. Her humiliating moment of confessing to a Wax-Adrien only for it to turn out to be the real Adrien and the subsequent agonizing talk that ensued in the long elevator ride.

“Oh girl, I am so sorry,” Alya sounded like the experience had wounded her, “I cannot even begin to fathom what that was like.”

“It wasn’t pretty. I wanted to evaporate into thin air the moment I realized Adrien wasn’t a statue.” Just thinking about that moment gave Marinette a bad case of embarrassment PTSD.

“At least it turned out okay.” Alya tried to assure her, “He didn’t reject you and you said that you two were going to talk about it, right? There’s still hope.”

“I’m hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. Just because he didn’t reject me right then doesn’t mean he won’t decide he doesn’t see me that way later. If anything I could just be delaying the inevitable.” Marinette laid back on her bed. The picture of Adrien surrounded by hearts staring down at her.

“That’s not the super confident Marinette I know and love. You gotta have more faith in yourself. The boy basically said that you were the most wonderful girl in the entire world. He said he felt something for you! I think you should be a lot happier right now.”

“I am happy. Truly!” Marinette’s face warmed as she recalled Adrien’s speech about how great she was. “But I have enough sense to not go putting all my eggs in one basket. I’m gonna go into this with a level head and leave it with the same kind of grace. I really like Adrien and I don’t want our friendship to suffer if this doesn’t end up with us together.”

“Since when did you get so mature?”

“Since I had to drop my fantasy and face reality.” Marinette sighed, “Now all I have to get through is the conversation with Adrien.”

“When is that happening?” Alya asked.

“Sorry to say but I’m not telling you that, Alya.” Marinette smirked into the phone.

“Why not?” Alya whined.

“Because this really only concerns me and Adrien. So I don’t need you or anyone else snooping around eavesdropping and trying to ‘help’ the situation.” As innocently as Alya may have meant it Marinette knew that she could get just as carried away in a plan as Marinette tended to.

“It’s called moral support!”

“It’s called this is gonna be a tough, awkward, and probably really emotional conversation between two friends that are deciding whether they should date or not and I don’t want everyone poking their noses into it.” Marinette corrected her.

“You’re right.” Alya sighed, “It’s not right away is it?”

“No. Today was exhausting and we’re both busy with schedules and deadlines tomorrow so it’ll be a good time to rest and think about it on our own.”

“If you want I can get Nino to hype you up to Adrien. Really let him know what all he’s getting if he decides to date you.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Marinette sat up straight in her bed, “I think you and Nino helped plenty today!”

“It kinda worked out in the end…” Alya mumbled.

“Alya, please, for the sake of my already stressed mind and heart, don’t mention that I told you this to anyone. Especially to Adrien. Can you do that for me? Can you not get involved?”

“If that’s what you want, girl. I promise not to meddle in your love life. If you two do start dating though I recede my promise.”

“Alya!”

“Joking. You need to chill. I don’t want to get your hopes up but I’m telling you that Adrien is gonna adore you. He’ll see that you two are made for each other and then you’ll live happily ever after.”

“Thanks, Alya,” Marinette relaxed again. “It’s getting late. I’ll talk to you more tomorrow.”

“Night, Marinette. Talk to you tomorrow!” She hung up.

Marinette stared at the ceiling of her bedroom as the events of the day settled on her. Adrien wanted to explore his feelings for her. He wants to see if there is something truly their between them. It seemed too good to be true!

As rational as Marinette tried to be she couldn’t help but let her mind wander to the best possible scenario. A final fantasy to lull her to sleep. Adrien and her having a nice, long talk. Adrien telling her that he wants to be with her. Adrien asking her on a proper date. The two becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. Adrien and her having a real first kiss! The two of them becoming so comfortable around each other that being together seems more natural than anything in the world.

Marinette held the dream close for one last night. In the morning she would be sensible once more but tonight she wanted to dream.

The next day really helped to calm Marinette’s nerves about talking to Adrien again. Mainly because she was doing fifty billion other things so her mind didn’t linger all that long on him. Occasionally she’d find her mind drifting before snapping back to the project at hand.

She got a text from Adrien that night asking her when she wanted to talk. It took a lot of hashing out but they agreed on Tuesday afternoon after school. It was a short day and Adrien was able to clear his afternoon so there wouldn’t be any time crunch. Marinette suggested they take a walk down the Path of Swans. It was the off-season so there shouldn’t be a lot of people. A nice, calm, place to walk and talk. Maybe sit down on a bench and watch the river while they munched on some cookies.

The day came and Marinette couldn’t help but be a little nervous. This really was her own personal judgement day of sorts. Adrien and her were gonna have a conversation and it was either gonna end with them together or not. A lot was on the line but she couldn’t let that scare her.

After school let out Marinette went home to drop off her bookbag and grab the bag of cookies she had made for today. Alya hadn’t said anything during class but Marinette could tell she knew that today was the day. She looked herself over in the mirror once more and took a deep breath.

“Are you ready, Marinette?” Tikki asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Marinette opened her purse for Tikki to sit in. “Wish me luck.”

“You don’t need it but good luck, Marinette. Everything will work out, you’ll see.” Tikki rubbed her head against her chosen’s cheek before zipping into the purse.

Marinette made it to the Path of Swans right on time. Adrien was already there waiting at the top of the steps for her. It was a chilly autumn day so he was bundled in a chunky knit sweater and the scarf she made him for his birthday. Why did he have to be wearing the scarf? Wasn’t this already emotionally compromising without that reminder of how much love and care she exerted into him wrapped around his neck?

“Hey,” he gave a small wave, “Glad you made it.”

“I brought cookies.” she held up the bag of fresh chocolate chip cookies she had baked.

“Cool.” they lapsed into silence.

“Do you wanna--” “We should--” They said at the same time.

“You go.” Marinette said.

“Walk? I mean, do you wanna walk? With me? Should we start walking?” Adrien pursed his lips, “Now I’m the one with word vomit.”

“Welcome to my world.” Marinette chuckled.

Adrien smiled at her and motioned for her to take the lead, “After you.”

They descended the steps and started the walk down the path. The autumn cold snap and foggy weather made it a quiet day along the path which was good. No nosy joggers or lost tourists to distract them. The fallen leaves scattered the walkway in shades of orange, yellow and brown.

“You look nice, today,” Adrien said, “New cardigan?”

“Yeah,” she tugged at the fuzzy ivory sleeves, “I finished it yesterday.”

“Fleece?”

“Yep.”

They lapsed into silence once more.

“I’m sorry, I don’t really know what to say. I had this whole speech prepared but it seems so ridiculous now.” Adrien scuffed his shoe through the damp leaves, “I’ve never been in a situation like this before.”

“I don’t want to break your heart or get your hopes up but I also need you to know that I do like you. I had a lot of time to think about what we talked about at the museum and it would be ludicrous to stand here and say that I don’t feel anything for you.”

“I feel a but coming.” Marinette braced herself.

“But you have to understand that this other girl, I’ve been in love with her for so long. She’s amazing and even if she doesn't feel the same way there is a part of me that doesn't want to let her go."

"I understand. I've been going through the same thing with you and Luka."

"So how did you choose?"

"Simple. I haven't."

"But I thought--"

"This is why we're out here, Adrien. It isn't just you deciding if you want me but I am also figuring out if I want you too." It was a point that Marinette realized she needed to make sure they addressed. Adrien wasn’t the one with all the power here. While Marinette did want to be with him her decision wasn’t set in stone.

"That doesn't make this more complicated or anything." Adrien muttered.

"Dealings with the heart are never easy. Trust me." Marinette was glad that she didn’t need to mention a third black clad partner that was head over heels for her hero supersona. Bundling Chat Noir and Luka into one entity as the other man in her life wasn’t fair but it’s not like she could tell Adrien her secret.

After a few more silent steps Marinette took the plunge.

“This other girl, do I know her?” She asked hesitantly.

“You could say that. Everyone knows her at this point I suppose.” Adrien was blushing. That or the cold was nipping at his cheeks and ears.

“Am I competing with a celebrity crush?” Marinette teased lightly.

“Sorta. I mean, she is famous and I do know her personally but...it’s complicated. I just…” he trailed off, “I feel like there is a chance for us. That one day she’ll say yes and we’ll ride off into the sunset. But I also know that she’s in love with someone else and I fear that if I keep making advances then maybe one day she’ll snap and not even want to be friends anymore.”

“Oof,” Did she really just say _oof_ to Adrien’s heart troubles? Idiot.

“Big oof,” Adrien chuckled half-heartedly. His face fell back into seriousness and he shoved his hands deep in his pockets. “And now with you I feel like I’m being unfaithful to my first crush. But then I remember that she’s in love with someone else so me having a crush on someone else shouldn’t matter. Then that comes back around on me because it makes me feel like I’m treating you as a fall back or second best when that’s not the case. I really like you and appreciate you as a friend and I don’t want you to feel as if I’m settling for you because I can’t have my first pick. You’re wonderful in your own way and I--I just--”

“You wish that you had never developed feelings for one of us so you didn’t have to play a relationship invalidating game of who is better.” Marinette could tell exactly what he was trying to get at.

“You put it in words,” Adrien sighed. “I don’t regret having feelings for either of you and wouldn’t trade the experiences for anything in the world but at the end of the day a decision needs to be made.”

“I mean not if you’re open to a poly relationship.” Marinette shrugged, “But I don’t think throwing that monkey wrench into an already complicated teenage relationship is the best thing.”

“Agreed,” Adrien nodded.

They continued on taking a small breather to eat some of the cookies Marinette brought and gaze at the misty world around them.

“We should do stuff like this more often.” Marinette said. “Not as a date thing but in general. I like talking with you and getting an afternoon to breathe in the fresh air with no deadlines is something I didn’t realize I was missing.”

“It is really calming.” Adrien took in a deep breath of autumn air. “No matter how this afternoon ends, we should do this again. You, me, a long walk and a bag of cookies.”

“I’d like that.” Marinette smiled.

They started to walk under the biggest growth of the trees, their branchest bent like a forest archway. Little drops of dew water dropping from their branches and splattering on the walkway and the young pair’s heads.

“Well,” Adrien said, “You know all about my messed up heart troubles. What about yours? Why are you hesitating between me and Luka?”

“I know it was unrealistic to think but a part of me was hoping we didn’t have to keep talking about this.” Marinette groaned inwardly.

“I think the biggest difference between you and Luka is that with Luka there is no pressure. There’s no guessing game about his feelings for me. I know that he likes me. He’s told me so. He confessed and never pushed me for a response.” Marinette stated. “With him everything is easier. I don’t get so nervous or tongue tied around him. He likes everything about me just the way I am. Even knowing how I feel about you he doesn’t make a big deal of it. Heck, he’s encouraged me to go after you before. He’s so good about my crush on you. Never acting bitter about it or trying to convince me to move on. He lets me sort out my own feelings in my own time.”

“Wow.” Adrien processed the information, “Makes me wonder why it is even a competition. Sounds like anyone would choose Luka. I’d choose Luka.”

“Like I said back at the museum,” Marinette rolled her eyes with a laugh, “Luka is great but he’s not you. The way I like him and the way I like you are two completely different things. It’s the same kind of problem you have. I don’t want anyone to get hurt with my choices.”

They stopped at a bench and sat down so they could overlook the river.

“I have an idea.” Adrien said, “It’s not perfect but I think it may help us figure things out.”

“I am all ears.”

“What if we did a trial run?”

“Huh?”

“You know,” Adrien started fidgeting with his ring, “What if we acted like a couple for a bit. Got a feel for how we mesh together and if one or both of us feels like it isn’t right then we can stop. No commitment.”

“Oh,” Marinette clutched her cookie bag tighter, “That um...that is…”

“If you’re not for it then disregard everything I just said. It was a dumb idea anyway.”

“Stop that.” Marinette calmed him, “It’s not dumb. In any other circumstance I think it would help but I don’t want to waste time on a halfway relationship.”

She looked him dead in the eyes. “I want this, Adrien. I want to have a real relationship with you and only you. But I’m not the only one that needs to want this.”

“I do want to give this a try. I want to see where it goes.” He impressed, “If we explore this and it turns out that we decide it isn’t for us then what do we do? I don’t want either of us to walk away from this with a broken heart or even worse an angry one. Isn’t there anyway to test the waters before we jump in all at once?”

“I understand where you’re coming from. The fact of the matter is that I don’t want to wait around for three months hoping for this to turn into something and you ultimately deciding that it isn’t for you. We can take things slow if you want, there’s no rush to be connected at the hip. But at a certain point of waiting it’s not you deciding whether you’re ready or not but you stringing me along. I care about you a lot, you mean so much to me, but I know I deserve better than that. So...I need an answer. A real answer. You don’t have to make a decision right now but if I’m not what you want then I’d rather you tell me sooner rather than later. That way I can move on and we can both be content in our lives.”

She blinked rapidly to banish the stupid tears threatening to spill out. “I know I sound like I’m being demanding but I’ve made my choice. I want you to know that it is okay to say no. I don’t want you to say yes because you think it is easier or out of some sense of guilt. I might be a bit sad but I could never be upset at you for doing whatever it is that makes you happiest. All I am looking for right now is your honesty. Whatever you choose I will still be here for you as your friend.”

“Marinette…” Adrien gripped the lip of the bench seat. So many thoughts and feelings battling for space. He looked back at her. There was no pretense. No wall. This was her heart stripped away of all its inhibitions. So vulnerable and trusting and brave. Just like her.

“I--I want to go on dates.” he stammered, “I want good morning texts and goodnight phone calls. I want to hold hands and get ice cream. I want to cuddle on a couch and watch movies. I want someone who I can be myself around. I want to be a listening ear and shoulder to cry on. I want someone to serenade with piano but will also laugh at my bad jokes. I want a relationship with someone who is not just my girlfriend but my friend as well. And...and I want that person to be you, Marinette.”

She stared at him. Not quite shocked but neither happy either. “You mean that?”

“Yes. I mean it.” he smiled as the truth of it truly resonated with him, “I want you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

She leaned closer hugging him tightly. Her face buried in his shoulder. He could faintly hear the sound of whimpering coming from her.

“Are you crying?” he started to panic.

“I am so tired.” she laughed through her tears, “You’re gonna be the death of me, Adrien Agreste.”

“Marinette, I’m still pretty bad at social cues so I’m not sure if this is good or bad right now.”

“Good.” Marinette wiped her eyes, “Very good. I just...I was so nervous about all of this. I know what I wanted to happen but there was still the anticipation that you would reject me and now that it’s over I’m getting a little emotional.”

“I understand that,” Adrien breathed out in relief, “I had to grab the bench to keep from shaking.”

“We’re regular disasters.” she pulled another cookie out of the bag and shoved it into her mouth, “Care to eat your feelings with me?”

“Yes, please,” he took a cookie and crammed it into his mouth. They sat there for a minute silently finishing off the rest of the cookies and letting their nerves melt away.

They got up to throw away the now empty bag and decided to make the full lap around the path. They certainly had the time since they had cleared their schedules for this talk.

“Can I--may I--” Adrien cleared his throat, “Can I hold your hand?”

“Sure,” Marinette was going to die. He was so shy!

He laced their fingers together and swung their arms gently as they walked.

“We don’t need to tell everyone about this, right?” Marinette asked. “I’m not like embarrassed or anything, I promise. I figured that since we are going to need a little transition time to get used to this that it would be best if we didn’t let all our friends know right away.”

“I like that idea.” Adrien said, “Plus, it’ll give us some time to ourselves without any outside interference.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Until we are more rooted and comfortable with this dynamic no one else can meddle in it.”

“Not even Nino and Alya?”

“I love them but I already had to forbid Alya from spying on our talk today. When we’re ready they’ll be the first to know.”

“And our parents?”

“Maybe the second to know. My tendency to go overboard I got from my dad. If he found out that we were dating then he’d jump right into the big questions that we’re trying to avoid.”

“I have no doubt my father would approve of you but he also gets really protective when there is a new big change in my life.” Adrien admitted, “He’ll probably be easier going if we have some time built up behind it.”

They finished their walk and Adrien gave Marinette a ride home. With a quick goodbye kiss on the cheek Marinette bolted into the house and grabbed the nearest pillow to muffle her giddy squeals of joy.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien.exe is applying updates. Do not ask hard to answer questions or flirt with the sunshine child at this time.

The rest of Adrien’s car ride home was spent with his face buried in the neck of his sweater blushing like a mad fool.

It was really starting to sink in. Adrien had just told Marinette he wanted to date her. He wants to be her boyfriend and have a real, romantic, relationship with her. He wanted her. Wanted to be with her in a way he had only ever thought he’d want with Ladybug.

Ladybug.

Ladybug didn’t love him the way he loved her. No matter how much he convinced himself that there had to be something there. Staring at the pictures of kisses he didn’t remember and telling himself that she had to feel just something. Maybe there was something there. Maybe she could return his love. Maybe things with Marinette aren’t meant to be forever and Adrien and Ladybug do get that fantasy life in his head.

But that wasn’t what was happening now. Ladybug was still a faraway dream and he’d always have a place in his heart for her no matter what. But Ladybug was no Marinette. She was a superhero and a good friend and the object of his affections for nearly a year. Marinette wasn’t a magical hero swinging around the city defeating evil but she was a heroine in her own right. To list all Marinette had done for others would take long hours of interviewing every citizen of Paris she had ever come in contact with.

Marinette was always helping others. Marinette was super passionate and a hard worker. Marinette was talented yet humble. Marinette was the kind of person that could rip her enemy to shreds in the sweetest and most graceful way possible. Marinette was scary clever. Marinette was lots of fun. Marinette was a dork. Marinette stumbled over telling jokes as well as her own two feet. Marinette was tardy to events. Marinette loses the ability to pronounce words correctly when she’s caught off guard. Marinette was hot-headed. Marinette jumped to conclusions.

Marinette

Marinette

Marinette

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was beautiful. From the ends of her pitch black hair to the tips of her toes. Whenever she was super focused her tongue stuck out. Her nose did a little scrunchie thing when she was trying not to laugh. Her hands were so soft and warm.

He recalled the hesitant goodbye kiss he had given her when he dropped her off at home. The smell of the bakery clinging to her even after their walk.

He’d have to tell Ladybug about this which he wasn’t looking forward to for a whole mess of reasons. He was excited about this new relationship and where it may go but it was also surreal to just let go of his long standing crush and efforts to woo Ladybug. It wasn’t exactly like she didn’t know about his feelings either. If he stopped altogether with no explanation she might get suspicious. Or not. He had no idea how she would react.

Why was he worrying so much about it in the first place? She’d probably be happy for him for taking this step and finding someone he wants to be with. She was great like that.

After getting into the house Adrien slumped on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Marinette is his girlfriend. A week ago she had just been a cute friend in his class. Now they were dating.

“Gotta say, kid,” Plagg floated by his head, “I didn’t think you had it in you. Great work scoring the baker’s daughter though. Can you say all the free cheese pastries we could eat or what!”

Adrien laughed. “Is that all that excites you about me deciding to date Marinette?”

“Adrien, trust me, nothing could make me happier.” Plagg flew into his cheese cupboard, “Except maybe my delicious camembert.”

“Eat up now cause after I finish my homework we need to head out for patrol tonight.”

“You gonna tell Ladybug about your new girlfriend?”

“I don’t know. I feel like I should say something but I also really don’t want to have that conversation tonight. It was already an emotional talk with Marinette and to have another heart to heart with Ladybug? I don’t think I could handle it.”

“No one’s asking you to wax poetic. Just tell Ladybug you have a girlfriend so you won’t be constantly trying to woo her anymore. Simple as that.”

“You are giving me the same advice you did before I went to talk to Marinette.”

“I’m just saying you could have killed a lot of time by being straight to the point.”

“I don’t think Marinette would want to date me if I told her that I only wanted to be with her so I could have free cookies.”

“And cakes and pies and eclairs and brownies--”

“Plagg, please stop before you make me hungry.”

“Also, I didn’t say to date her just because she’s a baker’s daughter. I told you to date her because you’re happier with her around and from what I gathered she’s happier when you’re around too.”

Adrien stared down at his math homework with uncomprehending eyes. His brain was so frazzled from the past couple of hours that it was impossible to focus.

“Plagg, transform me.” Adrien transformed into Chat Noir and leapt out of his window into the night. It was still early so he didn’t need to meet Ladybug for patrol yet.

Being Chat Noir had always been the ultimate escape for Adrien. It was a time to unwind and be impulsive. Running along the rooftops especially had done a lot for clearing his head. It was not a rare sight to see Chat Noir bounding across the Paris skyline at two in the morning because of it.

Maybe if he ran fast enough all these complicated feelings and worries would fall away behind him.

“Incoming!” The shout stopped Adrien dead in his tracks.

Ladybug was gracefully falling from the sky and landed perfectly not a foot in front of him. “Hey Chat. Ready for patrol?”

“Always.” he relaxed a bit. “Shall we get started?”

“Let’s go.” they leapt off into the night.

It started out as normal a patrol as you could get. Leaping across buildings, checking alleyways, waving to citizens, and escorting someone home who doesn’t feel safe walking by themselves at night. Through it all though Adrien kept stealing glances at Ladybug and trying to formulate a lead in to what he wanted to tell her.

Why was he being so weird about this? He needed to spit it out already! What is the worst that could happen?

“Chat Noir?” Ladybug interrupted his thoughts. She was watching him, her brow furrowed in worry. “Are you alright? You’ve barely said anything all patrol.”

“I’m fine. Good. Great even. If not a little mentally exhausted.” Adrien sighed, “I had an...interesting day.”

“Anything you need help with?” Ladybug asked, “I may not have any advice but talking about it could clear your head.”

“I uh...the things is...I was out with this person and…” All his words seemed to leave him. He didn’t want to do this tonight but the sooner he did it the sooner it would be over with.

“Geez,” Ladybug gave him a comforting smile, “You’re like a cat on a hot tin roof. What exactly did this person say to you?”

“She said she wanted to date me.” he mumbled. That familiar warmth spreading in his chest as he thought back to him and Marinette walking along the Seine.

“Oh…” Ladybug rocked back on her heels, “And how did this old tom cat respond to this confession?”

“No tom cat here, milady. I am a perfect gentleman at all times.” He slouched against the roof railing, “But I can say that it was a rather precarious conversation that ensued. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings or give her false hope but I also wanted to think about what she said on my own. After that and another long talk with her I decided--we decided to, y’know, date.”

“Hmm,” Ladybug came to rest next to him. “Is it mean to say I never really saw you dating anyone?”

“Why?”

“Your constant flirting with me?”

“Ah, yes, that would do it.” Why did he have to have this conversation? “To be honest I had never thought of this girl in that way before but after she confessed I realized I sorta had a crush on her but was too enamoured with a certain lady to notice.”

“I see…”

“I’m not giving up on you or whatever but...how do I put this?” He ran his hands through his hair, “I feel like I’ve matured past my crush on you. It’s not to say that I don’t still care for you but I can see the line between us more clearly. And I know that I’ve had a problem of crossing that line in the past but not anymore. I value you too much to lose you.”

“Oh, chaton,” Ladybug flicked one of his cat ears, “I’m happy for you. If you found someone you like that much and who treats you well then I am proud of you. You have a big heart and deserve someone to share it with.”

Adrien breathed out in relief. “I knew you’d be happy for me but a part of me was almost kinda hoping that you’d drop into a dramatic act of declaring your love for me in a jealous stupor.”

“Oh yes, forgive me, just a moment,” she brought one of her hands up to her forehead in a dramatic pose, “Oh Chat Noir!” she spoke like a wounded soap opera star, “I can bear it no longer! My love for you is like a tsunami that cannot be contained a moment more.”

“My lady, how forward!” Adrien gasped in equal ridiculous fashion as Ladybug fainted into his waiting arms, “What can one say to such an unexpected confession?”

“Say that you’ll leave this unworthy maiden who has stolen your heart from me. For I am your one true lady!” she brought her other hand over her heart.

“Sorry Bugaboo, as tempting as running away with you may be, I really like this girl and I have no intention of screwing this chance up.”

She smiled softly at him. Ladybug righted herself so she was no longer draped in his arms. “You like her that much, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Then all I can say is that I hope things go well for you two. She’s a lucky girl.”

“Trust me, I’m the lucky one.” he thought back to Marinette and his heart warmed just thinking of her.

Ladybug gave him another warm look before wrapping him in her arms and squeezing him tightly. He hugged her back. Putting all the love for her into it as he could.

“Come on,” Adrien let go first, “let’s wrap up patrol so I can get home and maybe get some sleep tonight.”

“Unless Hawkmoth decides to send another late night akuma.” Ladybug groaned.

“Does that man ever sleep?” Adrien grumbled, “Probably some jerk that can work from home and take naps whenever he wants.”

Ladybug snorted, “Do you think he sleeps in a giant cocoon hanging from a tree?”

“The real reason we can’t ever find Hawkmoth is because he’s wrapped up in a giant cocoon in a tree somewhere between akuma villains.”

“That would be our luck wouldn’t it?” Ladybug laughed, “If that’s the case then we should go start shaking some trees and see if a purple butterfly man wrapped in a sleeping bag falls out of one.”

They took off back over the rooftops. He was glad that he said something to Ladybug. It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Now he could really move forward with this new relationship with Marinette. No more hesitations. Well, less hesitations.

“Nope.” Ladybug popped out of one of the park trees, leaves stuck in her hair, “No Hawkmoth in here.” Adrien laughed as he pretended to be trapped in a different tree.

And more importantly, Ladybug was still his friend.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some well deserved fluff for our tired couple

It had been about a week since that day on the Seine. Marinette and Adrien were taking things slow as agreed. Little moments and actions to help ease them into their new relationship. Not that they did any of it in public. They wanted to keep this to themselves until they could truly define what exactly this was between them. It was also nice to have this time alone without outside interference or opinion to rain on their happiness. They hadn’t even told Alya or Nino yet. Not that the pair hadn’t been digging at them for information about what happened that day. But Adrien and Marinette agreed that this was something to be kept in the utmost of secrecy for now.

It was actually going rather well. They got their good morning texts complete with too many emojis and their late night goodnight phone calls. They’d find cute notes tucked inside their lockers. Adrien tried to walk her home most days before he had to race back to his own house.

The relationship had also gotten them to relax around each other a whole lot more. It took a couple days of whispered pet names, and hesitant touches, but they had fallen into a comfortable rapport. Adrien liked giving her pet names whenever possible and Marinette found herself tracing patterns on the back of his hand when they were sat near each other. It wasn’t much but it was a promising start.

If anyone suspected that something more was going on they didn’t ask. Discuss about it behind their backs via group chats? Yes. Was there a betting pool going on? Most likely. Did Chloe call him in a fit demanding answers once the rumor got to her? Of course.

Through it all though Adrien and Marinette had their own bubble that no one could pop.

So of course the moment they were finally happy something had to come along and ruin it.

Marinette’s phone pinged alerting her she had received a text. With bleary eyes she reached for her phone and smiled when she saw it was Adrien.

_Morning sleepy head, do you wanna have breakfast together?_

She rubbed the last of the sleep from her eyes and texted him back.

_Good morning! I’d love to! Where were you thinking?_

_Your place?_

_Are you inviting yourself over to my house at the crack of dawn? I thought we were keeping this from the parents._

_Can’t a good friend come over for breakfast? ( O ^ O )_

_I guess a very good friend wouldn’t be amiss in this house ( > ν o) How are you getting out of the mansion?_

_I have my ways_

_Is this in any way going to get either of us in trouble?_

_Perish the thought. I would never risk your reputation_

_I’ll tell my parents you’re coming over and I’ll make sure my dad doesn’t go overboard. See you soon, sunshine! Xoxo_

_Can’t wait! See you soon, doodle bug! <3_

“Doodle bug?” Tikki whispered in Marinette’s ear.

“Because I doodle a lot.” Marinette hid her face in her pillow. “Shut up.”

“It’s cute.” Tikki patted her head, “Now you should tell your parents he’s coming over, right?”

“Yeah, I’m going,” she squirmed out from under her sheets and popped downstairs to tell her parents Adrien was coming over for breakfast.

“Awe!” Her mom cooed, “Are you two finally together, sweetheart?”

“Mom!” Marinette flustered, “It isn’t like that. We’re just friends.”

She knew she could tell her parents the truth. They would keep it a secret and would be really happy for her. With everything going on though it just seemed like another step forward that her and Adrien weren’t quite ready for. In time they would tell the parents but not today.

“Of course, dear,” Her mom said, “Sorry to presume. You go get ready, we’ll get breakfast started.”

“Thanks mom, dad, love you!” she sped back up to her room and started getting ready. It was only breakfast so she didn’t need to dress elaborately but she also didn’t want to be bumming it when Adrien came over. She really didn’t want to put on jeans today though. Black sweatpants and chic oversized sweater it was!

A knock on the door sent Marinette shooting down the stairs and careening around her parents to get to it before they did. She opened it and Adrien was waiting patiently on the other side. While he may have been dressed properly for public his hair was all messy as if he had barely taken a brush to it after he woke up.

“Hi,” Marinette giggled as she started to smooth out his bedhead, “Nice to see you groomed before coming to my house.”

“Nice to see you dressing up for our breakfast date.” he quipped back.

“My house, I get to dress however I want.” Marinette crossed her arms, “You should be grateful I deigned to change out of my pajamas for you.”

“If you wanted me to crawl into bed with you that badly you could have just said so.”

“Adrien!” Marinette’s face pulsed red, “You can’t make those kind of jokes where my parents may hear you.”

“What? What did I say?” he frowned, confused, “Is it so bad to want early morning cuddles with my girlfriend?”

“Oh! Cuddling. That’s what you meant.”

“What did you think I was talking about?”

“Nothing. It’s not important. You wanna come in for breakfast?”

“Yeah, but I still want to know what you thought--”

“Mom! Dad! Look, Adrien is here!” she pulled Adrien in and shoved him in front of her parents.

“Good morning, Adrien.” her mom smiled at him, “Go on and take a seat. Would you like anything to drink? Juice? Tea? Milk?”

“Orange juice please.” Adrien took the offered chair next to Marinette.

The food was soon ready and everyone gathered round to start eating. At first a little nervous Marinette bumped Adrien to let him know that he could have as much as he wanted. Her dad always did make enough food for even the biggest appetites.

“So, Adrien,” her dad said, “How are you? School going well?”

Adrien paused, a little caught off guard by the question. “School is going very well.” he answered, “Can’t complain.”

“That’s good. What about outside of school? Marinette tells us you have a lot of extracurriculars that you devote your time to.”

“It can be a pretty full schedule but I enjoy my extra activities most of the time. I think my only wish is that I could have a little more free time to spend with my friends.” And girlfriend, Adrien thought to himself. He knew it had only been a week but he was itching to be able to take Marinette on a real date. Not just a video-call afternoon in the park or a study date in the library with Alya and Nino keeping a keen eye on the pair. A real date...in person...maybe a nice dinner where they didn’t have to pretend nothing was going on.

Maybe at the end of the date he could even give her a kiss. Not just on the cheek or hand like he’d been doing. A real kiss. The thought both thrilled and terrified him. What if he went in for the kiss and missed? What if he was bad at it? Sure he had kissed Ladybug a couple times but it wasn’t like he could remember any of them! What if he really was bad? What if something he ate made his breath smell? What if--

“Adrien.” Marinette poked him, “You still with us?”

“Sorry.” he blushed. He was getting all worked up about a kiss he had yet to give. “I was letting my mind wander. What were we talking about?”

“I’m given to understand you speak Chinese.” Mrs. Sabine said, “Well enough to translate for my uncle when he visited months ago.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Adrien said, “Father had me start lessons a couple years ago. He said it was important to be able to speak more than one language.”

“And how did you decide on Chinese?”

“Well, truthfully, I wanted to learn Japanese. But father said that I would be more likely to need to know Chinese so we went with Mandarin instead.”

“Does your intention of learning Japanese have anything to do with your obsession with anime?” Marinette smirked into her glass.

“I wouldn’t say it’s an obsession.”

“The three page rec list you gave me when I asked for anime/manga titles wasn’t obsessive?”

“You happen to be a fan of some quality entertainment--”

“It was color coded by genre and your personal rating of the series.”

“Like you have room to talk, Marinette.” Her dad said, “You have that huge calendar in your room that is not only color coded but meticulously updated with your ever changing schedule as well as your friends’ schedules.”

“Wow.” Adrien grinned, “Marinette, you’re a huge dork.”

“Come at me weeb!”

“Children.” her mom interrupted them, “No shouting at the table.”

“Sorry mom.” Marinette went back to her food. Her mom and Adrien started a conversation in Chinese that Marinette could barely follow. She had started learning more so that she could better communicate with her relatives back in China when she ever got to meet them. She still had a ways to go before she could hold a full conversation though.

“Not bad,” her mom nodded, “You speak Chinese rather well if not a bit too clunky and formal for normal conversation. That’s something you can only get over with repeated interaction with a native speaker really.”

“Not a whole lot of native Chinese around to practice with.” Adrien shrugged.

“I guess that means you’ll have to stop by more often.” Her mom had that plotting glint in her eye behind that sweet smile.

“I’d like that a lot.” Adrien beamed.

Unfortunately breakfast had to end and Adrien received an notification he had a fencing lesson to go to soon. He’d have to sneak back into the house before anyone came to check on him. He said goodbye to Marinette’s parents and walked downstairs with her to the door.

“Thanks for having me,” Adrien told her, “Breakfast with your family is way more entertaining than eating by myself back home.”

“My parents certainly enjoyed having you around.” Marinette said.

“Just your parents?” he leaned in closer to her.

“Maybe someone else did too. I wasn’t paying much attention.”

“And what could have possibly be splitting your attention?”

“Just some cute blonde sitting next to me.” she pushed his face back with her finger, “I wish we could do stuff like this more often.”

“When we let people know we’re dating we can.” Adrien assured her, “In the mean time I hope you can be happy with video-call dates and secret notes between class.”

“I’m already happy.” she held his hand. Her gaze focused on their intertwined fingers.

“Marinette,” Adrien tilted her chin up so she was looking at him, “I wish I could give you more.”

His face came closer and a little bell in her head started to sound. Was he going to kiss her? Okay, Marinette, don’t panic! Relax. You know how to kiss. You’ve done it plenty of times before! It’s just your first kiss with Adrien. Stop shaking you absolute scaredy cat!

Adrien pressed a kiss to her forehead instead.

Oh. That was new. Usually he only kissed her cheek. She didn’t think something as small as a kiss on the forehead could make her even more of a mess.

“I’ll talk to you after fencing practice.” Adrien told her. “See you later, doodle bug.”

“Yeah…” Marinette was still mooning over the sweet gesture, “Talk to you later, sunshine.”

Marinette went back upstairs to find her parents cleaning up breakfast and whispering animatedly. “Whatcha talking about?” Marinette went to help them.

“Oh nothing dear,” her mom assured her. “It was nice of you to invite your friend over for breakfast.”

“He more or less invited himself but it wasn’t like I was gonna tell him no.” Marinette said.

“Because you two are dating?” her dad guessed.

“What?” Marinette tried to play it off, “Of course not. I already told you it wasn’t like that.”

“Marinette,” her parents gave her a sympathetic look, “If that’s true then you may want to tell him that cause it was obvious he was very smitten with you.”

“We’re just good friends.” she insisted.

“Did you lie because you were scared your father would go overboard again?” her mom asked.

“No! I mean--I didn’t lie! There’s nothing...going on...um…” it felt gross lying to her parents. “Fine. We’re dating. But we didn’t want to let anyone know yet because we didn’t want anyone interfering.”

“Oh sweetie,” her parents hugged her, “We’re sorry for prying. We couldn’t help but be curious. If this secret relationship means that much to you then we promise we won’t breathe a word of it to anyone or interfere.”

“It’s not like I didn’t want to tell you but it’s already pretty delicate and new.” she relaxed in their arms, “You promise you’re not upset?”

“Nothing to be upset over.” they gave her one final squeeze before releasing her. “You make an adorable couple.”

“Thanks.” Marinette blushed, “And you promise you won’t tell anyone? I haven’t even told Alya yet.”

“What’s there to tell?” her dad tapped his chin, “That a friend of yours came over for breakfast?”

Marinette breathed out in relief and continued to help her parents clean up. This was shaping up to be a pretty good day.

True to his word Adrien called her after fencing practice and she admitted that she told her parents they were dating after he left. He wasn’t upset with her which was a relief. It was inevitable that someone was bound to figure it out sooner or later. Thankfully it was just her parents and not some paparazzi or crazed fan.

“How did they figure it out?” Adrien asked.

“They said that you were too smitten to be anything less than my boyfriend. That and if we weren’t in fact dating then I should tell you since you didn’t seem to be aware.” Marinette laughed.

“Do you think we’re that obvious at school?”

“Hard to say, I don’t know how we look when we interact at school. I think because we’re much more wary of the eyes watching us there it isn’t as bad as when it was just us eating with my parents in the privacy of my house.”

“That’s good. Don’t want the news getting out to everyone too soon.” Adrien paused, “Hold on a second, Nino’s calling me.”

“It’s fine. If I don’t hear from you again today then sweet dreams and a good night, sunshine.”

“It’s three in the afternoon.”

“And we both have very busy schedules. I don’t know if we’ll talk again before bedtime.” There was a frantic knocking on Marinette’s front door. “Someone’s at the door. Bye, Adrien.”

“Well, sweet dreams if I don’t hear from you later,” Adrien chuckled, “Goodbye, Marinette.”

They hung up and Marinette went downstairs to see who was banging on her door. She opened it and Alya rushed in nearly plowing over her.

“Alya!” Marinette jumped out of her way, “What is--”

“Do you have something to tell me?” Alya was pacing the living room. Her phone clutched tightly in her hand and her hair even more of a mess than usual.

“What is going on?” Marinette didn’t know what Alya was doing looking like a madwoman in her house. “Not that I don’t love seeing you, Alya, but what on earth are you doing here?”

“Don’t try and act dumb, Marinette,” Alya pulled up something on her phone and shoved it in Marinette’s face, “Care to explain this photo circulating around every social media platform?”

“What are you…” Marinette trailed off as she took in what she was seeing. It was a picture of Adrien and Marinette outside her house this morning. Granted it was a great candid photo of Adrien kissing Marinette’s forehead but who took it?

“Oh no.” Marinette didn’t dare look at the comments. “Who posted that!”

“I think what is more important,” Alya took her phone back, “Is the fact that you and Adrien are dating and didn’t tell me! Your best friend!”

“Alya, you don’t understand.” Marinette pulled out her phone. Already her Instagram was flooding with comments from jealous fans. “This is so bad! We weren’t telling anyone about this for a reason! Now everyone knows.”

“Okay, calm down,” Alya pulled the phone out of Marinette’s hands and set it down on the counter, “You’re freaking out and that’s partially my fault for coming at you full force. Everything will be alright.”

“How can I relax?” Marinette started doing little circles around the coffee table, “Adrien hasn’t even told his dad that we’re dating. You know how controlling he can be. What if he forbids Adrien from seeing me? I already have so much on my plate right now, Alya, I can’t handle any secret dating or star-crossed lover tropes in my life.”

“Marinette!” Alya grabbed her and forced her to sit on the couch, “You need to chill. Look at me, take a deep breath, and try to relax. You are blowing the situation out of proportion.”

“You’re right,” Marinette unclenched her fists, “It’s not that bad...right?”

“Some jealous fans leaving comments on your Insta are not worth the freak out. Don’t worry about Adrien’s dad being a jerk or anything like that.” Alya rubbed her back, “The only thing I want to know is every little detail about your new relationship with Adrien.”

“Alya,” Marinette let out a tired laugh, “Give me a moment to breathe. I just found out my relationship’s been outed to the public when we were supposed to be keeping it ourselves. I need a minute.”

“Okay. Take your time.” Alya leaned in closer and whispered, “I knew he was going to choose to date you.”

“You are hopeless.” Marinette chuckled. “And I suppose I have been dying to tell you about it so get comfortable. You are going to love this.”


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our couple faces the class and some fluffy times ensue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/188575736351/for-better-or-worse-5

Marinette told Alya all about the long talk Adrien and her had along the Seine and how they decided to start dating. How they meant to take it slow and keep the relationship secret so they could ease into the new dynamic without everyone butting in. It had only been a week but they were already so much closer now if not still a bit shy around each other. It was new and scary but also exhilarating and fun.

“Awe!” Alya gushed, “You two are so cute it physically hurts!”

“You’re not upset that I kept it from you?” Marinette asked.

“No way. I mean I was at first but I get where you were coming from. I should have been more sensitive to your new relationship. My excited reaction was probably exactly what you were trying to avoid, huh?”

“Yeah,” the girls laughed, “It’s so good to talk to you about this though. I hated having to keep it from you.”

“No sweat, girl. I know it isn’t ideal but now you and Adrien can double date with me and Nino.”

“That sounds awesome.”

Marinette’s phone started to ring. “It’s Adrien. He’s probably seen the news now.”

“Put him on speaker.” Alya pleaded.

Marinette rolled her eyes but put him on speaker anyway. “Hey, Adrien,” Marinette answered, “You called back earlier than expected.”

“I know,” Adrien said over the phone, “But have you gone on social media recently?”

“No need. Alya broke down my door to tell me.”

“So you know all about the picture?”

“Yep,” Marinette sighed, “I guess we weren’t as careful as we thought.”

“Granted it is a good photo but also really bad timing.”

“Is everything okay?” Marinette asked, now worried again. “Have you heard from your dad about it?”

“Not yet but I’m sure he’ll be having a word with me when I get home,” Adrien sighed, “It was bound to happen sooner or later but I was enjoying our relationship concerning only us. At least now I can act like a proper boyfriend and take you on real dates and hold your hand while we walk to class.”

“This is so pure!” Alya squealed in a happy whisper.

Marinette ignored her for the moment. “Do you have any idea who posted the photo?”

“No clue, the account it was posted from was brand new. Whoever posted it obviously didn’t want anyone knowing who they were.”

“Cowards.”

“I should print out that picture and get it framed.” Adrien suggested, “You look positively adorable in it. All cuddly and warm in your sweater and Pusheen house slippers.”

“Adrien, you are so sweet you are going to give me diabetes.” Alya sighed dreamily into the phone. “You like my bestie that much?”

“Al--Alya?” Adrien stuttered, “What are--how much of that did you hear?”

“The phone was on speaker,” Alya smirked at the screen, “I asked Marinette to do it.”

“Sorry. I should have mentioned that when I answered.” Marinette apologized.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m glad you stopped me before I started getting into the pet names.”

“Pet names!” Alya grabbed the phone and held it closer, “Adrien, please, tell me the pet names! Please! Pretty please!”

“Alya! Down girl!” Marinette swatted her with a pillow, “Drop the phone! Drop it!”

“But--”

“Drop it!” Marinette brandished the pillow threateningly.

Alya pouted but handed the phone back. “Good girl!”

“Do I look like a dog?”

“Well you certainly can be a real bi--”

“Marinette,” Adrien interrupted her, “Is everything okay over there?”

“Everything is fine. Alya is pouting but it’s nothing I can’t handle.” Marinette ruffled Alya’s hair.

“That’s not what I meant.” Adrien sighed, “I mean, have you gotten any mean messages from jealous fans? Are they bothering you at all?”

“I mean, yeah, but don’t worry about it. I was already preparing myself for the backlash from angry fans for when we were going to go public. It may have happened sooner than I thought but I got this. I think I actually worked out the worst of my meltdown with Alya so things should be okay now.” Marinette assured him.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. What about you? Are they coming after you at all?”

“After I saw the picture I got too scared to look at what people were saying.”

“Adrien, boy,” Alya piped in, “I am gonna give you the same advice I gave Marinette. Do not sweat the haters. This is mob mentality. They’re blowing up because everyone else is. If you saw any of these people irl they probs wouldn’t say a thing. So my advice to the both of you is to stay off social media for a couple days until this dies down some. Okay? You can address the photo and your relationship when everyone gets used to the news and don’t have such strong reactions to it.”

“Alya’s right,” Adrien said, “This isn’t our problem. It’s the fans’. All we have to do is keep our distance until it is safe to dive back in.”

“Sounds good to me.” Marinette shrugged.

“I’m pulling up to the house.” She could hear the nervousness in his voice, “Hopefully father is in a good mood. I’d really like for this talk to go well.”

“It will,” Marinette wanted to reach through the phone and hug him, “I promise it will.”

“Thanks, doodle bug.” Adrien sounded happier, “Sweet dreams if I don’t talk to you later.”

“Sweet dreams, sunshine.” Marinette smiled into the phone. “Bye.”

He’ll be fine. It is a talk between a father and son. There’s nothing to worry about.

“Doodle bug?”

Oh crap.

Marinette risked a glance at Alya. She was brimming with glee. “He calls you doodle bug?”

“You really are hopeless.” Marinette laughed.

\---

“Kid?” Plagg whispered from inside Adrien’s jacket, “Are you going to go in?”

Adrien had been standing outside the doors to his father’s office for several moments. He didn’t have the nerve to actually enter. His mind kept replaying worst case scenarios. What if this? What if that? What if his father forbade him from seeing Marinette? The only good thing to come out of him forbidding Adrien from seeing Marinette would be an excuse for a forbidden romance. Late night rendevous. Secret love letters. Stolen kisses in the far stacks of the library. The list goes on!

Granted it would just be another thing to keep secret and work around with his already busy schedule but the aesthetic!

“Adrien,” his father’s voice from inside the office cut through his thoughts, “I can hear you shuffling outside the door. Please come in here.”

With a deep breath Adrien stepped inside the office. “You wanted to talk to me, father?”

“Yes,” his father was standing behind his work podium. “As I am sure you are well aware there is a picture of you floating around the media of you in the...comfortable company of a young lady.”

“I’m aware.” Adrien muttered. “It really isn’t anything to worry about.”

“Interesting that you think I would be worried.” His father raised an eyebrow at him, “Should I be worried, Adrien?”

“No! Of course not!” Adrien stammered, “We’re just going out. There’s nothing to be concerned about at all.”

“Going out?” His father inched closer, “You are dating this girl?”

“Yes. And it’s Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. We go to school together and last week we decided to start dating. I just didn’t say anything because we’re still pretty awkward about the change and wanted to get used to it on our own terms.”

“I see,” his father pulled up the picture on his work screen, “The young miss who won the contest I posted at your school correct?”

“Yes. She’s a really great designer, like you!” Adrien felt better now that he saw his father wasn’t angry at the relationship.

“Her skills are underdeveloped but have potential.” His father nodded, “If you were concerned about my approval to your new relationship with Mlle. Dupain-Cheng then there is no need. I will not forbid you from seeing her as I am sure you would go behind my back anyways.”

“I would never…” Little dreams of balcony serenades getting locked back up in the fantasy vault.

“What I am concerned with is that if the time this picture was posted is to be correct then that means you snuck out of the house to go see this girl. Now that I have an issue with.”

“Oh,” Adrien started sweating, “It was just breakfast. I didn’t think I needed to be escorted down the street to eat a meal with my girlfriend’s family.”

“Hm,” he didn’t look convinced but didn’t press the issue any more. “You are growing up, Adrien. I cannot stop you from pursuing romantic relationships. But from now on you will ask permission to leave the mansion. If I find you sneaking out again to see this girl there will be consequences. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes father,” Adrien sighed in relief. That could have been so much worse!

“One more thing,” his father halted his dash to the door, “Since you are so keen to make meal arrangements with your girlfriend’s family then I see no reason why she can’t come to the house for dinner some night. If you two are serious about this relationship then I would like to assess things for myself before giving my complete blessing.”

“Yes, of course, father.” Slight tangent but Adrien expected that. “May I be excused now?”

“Yes. I will see you for dinner.” His father waved him out of the office.

Adrien flew out of there and ran up to his room. Oh thank goodness! His father said the relationship was okay! Now there was nothing to worry about!

“You seem really happy.” Plagg said, “A moment earlier you were shaking like a leaf.”

“I can keep seeing Marinette! Father said it was okay!” Adrien jumped onto his bed. “You have no idea how relieved I am. The worst is over. Life can be normal again.”

“Except that you now have to face everyone at school tomorrow and deal with the invasive questions about your new relationship with Marinette. Not to mention you have to get through a dinner with your dad where he’ll basically be grading your girlfriend the entire time.”

Adrien deflated. “You couldn’t let me have this for three seconds?”

“Sorry.”

\---

“Good morning family!” Marinette skipped downstairs, “How are we this morning?”

“You’re in an awfully good mood,” Her dad smiled at her, “What has you so happy?”

“It’s just a good day.” Marinette grabbed a croissant off the plate her dad held out. “I’m also running late for school. I’ll see you later.”

“Have a nice day at school, sweetheart!” her parents called after her before she rushed out of the house.

Marinette was plenty nervous about facing everyone now that they knew about her relationship with Adrien but she was overcoming it by being extremely optimistic. She was already ready for whatever backlash she would get from Lila or Chloe so that wasn’t a problem. If she kept a level head and didn’t freak out then everything would be fine. Honestly, she was probably overthinking all of this. Just because it is new doesn’t mean that it is earth shatteringly significant. It’s two friends that are now dating. It’s not that big a deal.

Walking into school things were eerily normal. No one was staring or whispering about her. Most everyone didn’t even seem to notice she was there.

That was until she got to the locker room. Everyone was huddled around her locker. “Hey,” Marinette tried to push through them, “What’s going on?”

“Marinette!” Alya pushed out of the crowd and started ushering her friend away, “How are you this morning? That jacket is really cute. Do you wanna go over our literature notes before class?”

“Alya, what’s going on? Is something wrong with my locker?”

“Don’t worry about it, girl. Just some dumb kids writing stupid stuff.”

“Stuff?” Marinette’s heart dropped, “What kind of stuff?”

“Nothing to get worked over. We called the janitor to clean it up so it’s not worth fretting over.”

“I think the fact that you are trying your most to keep me from seeing it means that it is something worth fretting about.”

“Marinette,” Alya sighed, “Really it is nothing. Some jealous fans in the school wrote some crap on your locker. I didn’t want you to get upset about it cause it is really nothing to worry about.”

“I’m a big girl, Alya. Some schoolyard insults and petty jealousy isn’t going to make me lose control. Let me guess, it said: Stay away from Adrien! You’re ugly! You don’t deserve him!” Marinette mimicked a scary monster voice.

“Pretty close,” Alya laughed.

“Seriously, it’s alright. To think I was nervous for a moment there.” Marinette was glad Alya was protective of her but something as passive aggressive as writing mean things on a locker? Whoever did it was no better than the people leaving comments online. They didn’t have the guts to say it to her face so they left it somewhere else instead. Pathetic.

They walked into class and Marinette would be lying if she said seeing Adrien didn’t brighten her day all the more.

“Hey boys,” Alya and her waved to Nino and Adrien.

“Ooh! Here she comes!” Kim whistled, “You gonna be able to control yourself, Adrien?”

“You are such a child.” Max rolled his eyes.

“Hey Kim, how’s Ondine?” Alya smirked, “From the looks of things on your Snapchat, Adrien’s not the one that needs to find his cool around his lady.”

Max snorted. Kim blushed. Alya sat down.

“Good morning,” Marinette stopped next to Adrien, “How did the talk with your dad go last night?”

“Great. He even invited you to have dinner some night so you could be properly introduced.” Adrien beamed.

“Oh thank goodness,” Marinette leaned against the desk, “The curiosity was killing me all night.”

“If you were that curious why didn’t you text me?”

“If things went well why didn’t you call me?”

“I fell asleep.”

“You fell asleep...at five in the evening?”

“I forgot.”

“Dork.” Marinette booped his nose. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“I know.” Adrien grinned. As quickly as it appeared though it vanished. “Um, did you see your locker earlier?”

“Nope. Alya pulled me away before I could.” Marinette said, “I’m not worried about it though so I don’t want you getting all distressed about it. Okay?”

“Okay. You’re right.” Adrien relaxed again. “Besides a graffitied locker and a couple of inappropriate comments--Kim--today isn’t going as bad as I thought it would.”

“You thought it was going to go badly?”

“Last night someone made me irrationally nervous and it seeped into today.”

“Aww,” Marinette was halfway to giving him a hug before she remembered where she was. If no one was watching them before they all were now. It felt so weird being affectionate in public. “I’m uh...I’m gonna sit down now.”

“Marinette?”

“ADRIEN!” Chloe burst into the classroom. “You’ve been dodging my calls but not anymore!”

“Oh hi, Chloe,” Adrien waved to her unperturbed, “Sorry I didn’t return your calls. I had a busy night.”

“What is this?” she flashed him the infamous photo floating around the internet, “Are you really dating Dupain-Cheng?”

“Yes. Do you have a problem with that?”

Chloe was apoplectic with rage but was keeping it in line. Albeit barely. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“If it makes you feel better I didn’t tell anyone. It was nothing personal.”

“But--But--” she glanced at Marinette, “Why her?”

“Because I like her?” Adrien’s brow creased, “She likes me too so we decided to try a real relationship.”

“You decided to date just like that?!”

“I wouldn’t say it was a simple as you’re making it out to be.” Adrien turned around to smile at Marinette, “But I think it was well worth the effort.”

“You two are so cute!” Rose gushed, “I’m so glad you’re dating now!”

“We all knew it was only a matter of time.” Mylene chimed in.

“That reminds me,” Alya stood up, “I drew up what everyone owes from the betting pool.”

“Wait a second!” Marinette shot out of her chair, “You were actually betting? I thought that was just a joke!”

“I mean we weren’t betting money.” Alya shrugged.

“What were you betting?” Adrien asked.

“Favors.” Nathaneal sighed as he wrote something down in his notebook, “I was really hoping I could get Max to do my maths homework with this bet.”

“No such luck.” Max grinned, “Now Nathaneal has to make me a custom poster.”

“And Mylene has to do my science homework.” Alix whooped.

“You do know that this makes no logical sense. If you’re not doing the work then are you really learning? It also won’t help with tests.” Adrien said.

“NERD!” Kim shouted.

“Big talk from the guy who has to put off giving challenges for another year.” Nino quipped.

“Students, in your seats please,” Ms. Bustier entered the room and started class.

Classes went by quickly and soon it was time for lunch break. “You wanna go to a cafe for lunch?” Alya asked Marinette as they packed up.

“Nah. I packed a lunch.” Marinette pat her lunchbox. “How about we head to the dining hall?”

“Mind if I join you?” Adrien asked. “I don’t feel like going home for lunch today.”

“Of course,” Alya said, “Nino, you coming too?”

“Heck yeah, I’m starving!” Nino rushed out of the room without waiting for anyone.

“Hey! Wait for us you big dope!” Alya ran after him.

“Shall we?” Adrien held out a hand to Marinette.

“Oh, yeah,” Marinette took his hand, “Let’s go.”

As they walked up to the dining hall Adrien kept glancing at Marinette. She was strangely quiet and wouldn’t look up from the ground.

“You okay?” he asked, “You’re really quiet today. Is it the stuff written on your locker?”

“Hm? Oh no, I was thinking.”

“What about?”

“Does this bother you?”

“Does what bother me?”

“This,” she held up their intertwined hands, “Doing this stuff in front of people I mean.”

“No. Does it bother you?” Adrien loosened his hold, “If you’re not comfortable with it then--”

“Don’t let go!” she clasped his hand in both of hers, “Just...don’t let me pull away.”

He kissed the back of her hand, “I won’t, doodle bug. Now let’s eat.”

They walked into the dining hall. Marinette was more at ease now, even going as far as feeding Adrien a bite of her sesame balls.

Too soon it was back to class and then home. Adrien had a Chinese lesson right after school so he couldn’t walk Marinette home which was a shame. “Bye, Adrien,” she waved to him from the top of the school steps, “Talk to you later!”

“Bye, Marinette!” Adrien opened the car door. “Oh wait,” He ran up the steps once more and pressed a kiss against her cheek. He pulled back with a smile on his face. “I’ll call you tonight. Okay?”

“O-Okay,” Marinette wavered. He gave her one last smile before sliding into the car and disappearing down the road. She gently touched the spot where he kissed her. Her friends were whispering and giggling behind her but she didn’t care. She was only upset that she didn’t get the chance to give him one in return.

“Adrien! Come back!” Alya chased after the car, “I want a picture of that kiss!”

“Babe! Stop being a creep!” Nino yelled at her. “Alya! Dude, come back! You’re not gonna be able to catch him!”

_I love these weirdos._ Marinette thought happily.


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go downhill very quickly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/188885912951/for-better-or-worse-6

There is no decency in this world.

At least that was Marinette’s thought as she left the warmth of her bed in the morning. Not only had she stayed up late finishing homework but that same night after she had gotten settled into bed an akuma struck. That was already annoying but considering that it was thunderstorming at the same time didn’t help. By the time she and Chat defeated the akuma and got to go home she maybe had three hours of sleep left before she had to wake up for class.

At least that was the plan.

“Marinette!” Tikki was tugging on her ear, “Wake up! You need to wake up!”

“Hmm?” she brushed Tikki away, “Akuma?”

“No. You’re late for school!”

“School? Oh crap!” she shot out of bed and grabbed her phone. She was almost two hours late! Why hadn’t her parents woken her up? Ahh!

She grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to throw on before tugging on her shoes and sprinting out the door. Of course it was still pouring down rain this morning too. She ducked under her bookbag as she rushed to the school. Everyone was in the halls as they moved onto their next class.

“Marinette, there you are.” Alya said when she saw Marinette run in. “I was starting to think you were sick or something.”

“I wish,” Marinette tried to shake the water out of her shirt. “What did I miss?”

“I gotcha,” Alya handed her the math homework and history notes. “You and Adrien really are made for each other. He was late to class too.”

“Where is he anyway?” Marinette looked around.

“Loverboy was heading to the library last I saw.” Alya smirked, “Have fun.”

“Shut up,” Marinette mumbled. After an encouraging nod she skipped up to the library.

She shivered when she entered the room. Why was it always so cold in here? Being soaked through from the rain didn’t help.

She saw Adrien sitting at one of the tables. He was really into what he working on. Marinette decided to sneak up on him and covered his eyes from behind. “Guess who. She’s tired and cold and in need of cuddles.”

“Sounds like my very late girlfriend,” he removed her hands and turned around, “And I was right.”

“Hi,” she kissed his cheek and sat down, “Also, it seems I wasn’t the only one who was late today.”

“Overslept,” he yawned, “What is your excuse?”

“Overslept,” she copied his yawn, “Debating if I shouldn’t have just stayed home today.”

“Now if you did that you would have missed very important lessons.” he chuckled as she grabbed his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. “You’re all wet. Aren’t you cold?”

“A little,” she rubbed her bare arms. In her rush she hadn’t thought to grab a jacket.

“Here,” he took off the hoodie he was wearing and handed it to her.

“Aren’t you going to be cold now?” she asked.

“Nah, I’m a human furnace.”

Marinette pulled on the hoodie and her body flooded with warmth. Not just from the warm and dry clothing but the fact that she was actually wearing her boyfriend’s hoodie. Her boyfriend Adrien’s hoodie. The other lucky people that got to do this were absolutely right when they said it smelled like their partner. She was never going to return this if she could help it.

“Better?” Adrien was trying not to laugh at his girlfriend burying her face in the neckhole of the hoodie.

“Yes!” she laid her head on the table. “Do you mind if I nap here? I’m still dying.”

“Go for it,” he pulled the hood up over her head, “I’ll wake you up in time to go to science.”

“Thank you.” she closed her eyes and got a bit more sleep before Adrien woke her up and they shuffled to class.

Marinette was really debating if coming in today was worth it seeing as how it was only a half day and after science she could go home. Then she remembered that she had the opportunity to steal her boyfriend’s hoodie and decided that was definitely worth it.

His ride wasn’t there yet when school ended so Adrien got the chance to walk her home.

“Oh, I hope it isn’t creepy but I took this photo while you were napping.” Adrien showed her a picture of herself napping in the library.

“Oh my gosh I look adorable.” Marinette laughed.

“I know. I wanted to post it but with the break from social media we’re taking.”

“It’s been almost a week. I’m sure people have calmed down by now.” Marinette pulled out her own phone. “You should post it.”

“I’m gonna.”

“You better tag me.”

“Duh.” he tapped away on his phone, “And it is up.”

“Nice.” she refreshed her own Instagram. “Like and comment.”

“What is that supposed to mean? You’re not gonna give me back my hoodie?” Adrien read her comment.

“No. It’s mine now.” 

“Marinette!”

“It is the girlfriend code! Don’t act like you don’t know this!” Marinette kissed him quick and stepped inside the bakery. “You are never seeing this hoodie again, sunshine.”

“It looks better on you anyway.” he rolled his eyes, “Bye, doodle bug.”

“Bye, sunshine.”

It had felt like forever since Marinette got to check her social media. She had a lot of scrolling to do.

“I thought you were supposed to be avoiding this stuff.” Tikki said.

“That was like a week ago. It’s fine.” Marinette looked at her messages, “Although I should probably clear that out.”

She opened her messages and rolled her eyes. A bunch of caps lock messages telling her to die or break up with Adrien and the like. She started going through deleting all of them.

“Break up. Break up. Ugly. Break up. Die. Ugly. Die. Break up. Break up.” Marinette muttered as she scrolled. “If they’re going to try insulting me they should at least be a little creative. I mean look at this one: ‘You’re nothing but a desperate airhead that doesn’t deserve someone as perfect as Adrien. Please do the world a favor and die.’”

“How are you laughing? That’s so mean!” Tikki sneered at the screen.

“Because half of these messages have got to be that exact text copy and pasted. They really think repeating the same thing is gonna make me break up with Adrien? That makes them the airheads, not me.” Marinette continued to delete, “See this one here. At least this one tried to be distinctive. ‘You look like a sugar cookie chewed you up and spit you out covered in obnoxious pink frosting.’ How can you not laugh at these?”

“I still don’t think you should read them. Let me delete them for you and you can do homework or something.” Tikki insisted.

“Thanks, Tikki,” Marinette set the phone down on her desk. “I’m gonna go over my notes and see what I missed.”

As Marinette set about her work she occasionally glanced at Tikki tapping away on her phone. She would stop completely if she heard Tikki start to get mad. It was kinda cute. Tikki getting worked up about a few dumb messages.

What had that one message said? Her hair looked like a greasy hair ball pulled out of a shower drain? Dang...that was actually creatively hurtful. Unlike all the other comments telling her she was stupid and ugly and talentless and a social climber and unworthy of Adrien’s affections. If she even actually was dating him at all because why would he want to date someone as desperate and annoying as her? He was probably just pitying her and would let her down gently in a couple days after she got her fill of feeling like she was important.

“Marinette?” Her mom’s voice called up to her.

“Yeah mom?” Marinette’s voice wavered as she tore her gaze from the screen.

“Can you come set the table for dinner?”

Dinner? Marinette checked the time. She didn’t realize it was that late.

She stared back at her notes. She hadn’t made it past the second page. What had she been doing all that time? Every now and again she looked at her phone but...but…

“Sweetie, did you hear me?” her mom called again.

“Y-Yes,” Marinette took a deep breath to center herself, “I’m coming.”

\---

Adrien was getting worried. For the past three days Marinette had barely smiled. She kept her head down in class and wouldn’t talk to anyone directly. He thought maybe she was getting sick but she assured him that she was right as rain if not a little tired.

Now that he’d believe. She looked tired. Well, more vacant than tired. Wherever she looked it wasn’t like she was actually seeing anything but staring off into a void only she could see. And it was only getting worse.

But it was Sunday so no school and no lessons but he did a photoshoot that he promptly invited Marinette to. She always liked coming and visiting him during photoshoots before so hopefully seeing the Gabriel winter line would lift her spirits.

He picked her up on the way and she presented him with a box of fresh baked goodies from the bakery. She was looking better. There was more light in her eyes then days prior.

“Not parading around in my hoodie today?” he teased lightly.

“Would you rather me be wearing it?” she smiled.

“You’ve been wearing it every day since I gave it to you so I am a little surprised.”

“It’s just so big and cozy and warm. But today since I’m going to one of your photoshoots I thought I should wear something not as schlubby. Even if it is a designer hoodie it doesn’t stop it from being, well, a hoodie.”

“You could never look schlubby.” he pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Now, tell me who the cutest girlfriend ever is.”

Marinette giggled as she tried to squirm out of his hold, “Adrien!”

“No, Marinette, I’m the boyfriend in this relationship. Tell me who the cutest girlfriend is.” He continued to press little kisses to her cheeks and nose. “Tell me! Who is the cutest!”

“Quit it, you dork!” she squealed.

“Not until you say it!”

“Okay, fine,” she pushed his face away, “It’s me. I’m the cutest girlfriend.”

“Say it again.”

“I’m the cutest girlfriend!”

“Heck yeah you are!” he cheered. He may look like a dork but she was smiling and laughing and that’s all that mattered.

They got to the set and Adrien had to go get dressed and made up so he left Marinette out front with some of the girl models. When he got back out to the cameras Marinette wasn’t where he left her. Where had she gone?

He looked over and saw her sat down on the ground near the snack table with her phone in one hand and a lunette in the other. “Hey doodle bug,” Adrien knelt next to her, “What are you doing over here?”

“Nothing.” she muttered. “Having a snack.”

“What’s wrong? What happened to my happy, smiling doodle bug?” he asked.

“Just a little tired.” she shrugged.

“Marinette--”

“Adrien, we need you over here.” the photographer called.

“Go. I’ll be fine.” she touched his cheek, “You look good.”

He didn’t want to leave her like this but the photographer was getting impatient and they were on a schedule. He kissed her forehead. “And you’re still the cutest.”

She smiled again but it was empty.

He started the shoot but he couldn’t focus. He kept glancing at Marinette trying to figure out what went wrong in the fifteen minutes he left her alone. Had someone said something to her? Did she get bad news? What?

“Adrien,” the photographer sighed, “I know it is early but I need your attention on the camera. Not on the snack table.”

“Sorry,” Adrien apologized. They got through his solo shoot and then he went to change so they could do some group shots. When he came back out again Marinette had pushed herself into an even farther corner of the room.

“Hey Agreste,” one of the girl models, Nina, skipped up to him, “You need some Red Bull? You are really out of it today.”

“No. I’m just worried about my girlfriend. She was really happy this morning but once we got here she got all...I don’t know what to do. I can’t figure out what’s wrong.”

“I have an idea,” Nina sighed, “I heard some of the other models talking about her. They didn’t have anything nice to say either. Stuff about her trying to further her own designer dreams by dating you. It was messed up. I offered to say something but she told me not to. She insisted she wasn’t bothered by it.”

“That’s so--” Adrien put a cap on his anger, “I brought her here because she loves fashion and I was hoping to cheer her up after a tough week. Ever since we got together people having been clamoring for information and harassing her and I thought maybe the worst of it was over. Apparently not though.”

“It’ll get better,” Nina patted him on the back. “I’ll say something to the other models and you can go comfort your girlfriend after the shoot. Sound good?”

“Thanks, Nina,” He felt better now knowing what was going on. It made keeping a happy face with the other mean models during the shoot but he got through it. He changed back and said goodbye to the others before going to collect Marinette.

“Hey,” he greeted her, “Enjoy the shoot?”

“Yeah. You did great.”

“You ready to go?”

“Yep.” she took his hand and they left the set. 

They got in the car and Adrien decided to put up the divider between them and the Gorilla. He didn’t need to listen to this. “Marinette,” he said, “you know if something or someone upset you then you can tell me. I hate seeing you sad.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, it’s not,” he squeezed her hand, “I know that what people say can hurt but you and I know that their opinions don’t matter. They’re jealous or petty and not worth the time. So you shouldn’t think or worry about what they said.”

She leaned on his shoulder, “Easier said then done.”

“I know,” he sighed, “I know. But it’ll get better. I know it will.”

They arrived back at Marinette’s house and dropped her off. She handed him the rest of the goodies she had brought before heading inside. He wanted to hang out longer but his father was insistent that he return straight home after the photoshoot today.

At least he would see her at school tomorrow and hopefully things would be better then.

\---

Monday morning. Marinette walked into the school and found her locker defaced again. She shoved her things inside and headed up to class. A pleasant surprise waited on her desk.

“Flowers?” Marinette’s spirits lifted when she saw the bouquet on her desk. Did Adrien leave these for her? That was so sweet!

There was a card at the top that she plucked from the blooms. It said: **DIE!** in ugly messy scrawl.

The card creased in her fingers. Seriously? Who wastes money on a bouquet for a death threat? Still...why did it unsettle her so?

“Hey Marinette,” Alya walked over, “Awe, who sent you flowers?”

“I...I…”

“Is something wrong?” Alya peeked at the card in Marinette’s hand. “This is really not funny.” Alya took the card, “What psycho did this?”

“Good morning girls,” Adrien walked over to give Marinette her kiss on the cheek. “Marinette, what’s wrong?”

Alya came over and showed him the card. He looked back at the flowers on the desk and his frown deepened. “This needs to end.” Adrien spat, “This is too much. To do something like this! It’s not only kinda racist but incredibly hurtful.”

“Racist?” Marinette’s stomach dropped, “How are flowers racist?”

“Well, it is a Japanese custom as far as I know. But you’re half Chinese so trying to intimidate you with a Japanese custom it’s just--whatever, that’s not the point.” Adrien took the flowers off the desk, “Whenever someone dies a bouquet is left on their desk to mourn their absence. If someone leaves a bouquet when someone is alive though it is basically a message saying the sender wishes you were dead.”

“Oh,” The tears started to prick behind her eyes, “That’s just swell, isn’t it? Everything is fine and dandy in my world. Not enough that I’m getting death threats and insults hurled at me every second online and on my locker but now I’m getting threatening flowers on my desk too. Aren’t I special.”

“Hey, don’t think about it,” Adrien tried to hold her but she backed away from him. “Marinette, please, don’t listen to any of this. You’re stronger than a bunch of anonymous cowards.”

“I shouldn’t have to be though.” she sniffed, “Why can’t things be normal?”

“I’m sorry, I wish I could make it stop for good.”

“I know,” Marinette kissed his cheek, “I’m going to get some air.”

“Doodle bug?”

“Alone.” She rushed out of the classroom. She kept moving letting her feet take her wherever they wanted to go so long as it was far from there.

She’s just a normal girl trying to have a normal relationship with a guy she really likes. Why does that have to be so hard? Why does she have to pile on this stress with all the other crap in her life?

Is it not enough that she has to hide most of herself behind locked doors and lie to the people she loves? Is it not enough that the safety of Paris and quite possibly the world depends on her? Is it not enough that she has to smash down all her negative emotions because if Hawkmoth gets ahold of her she could end up handing over her miraculous right to him? Is it not enough that there will never be a time when she can relax and be happy and herself so long as she’s Ladybug?

Is it not enough that she sometimes regrets ever accepting the role of Ladybug?

It was the straw that broke the camels back. Everything was just too much anymore.

“MARINETTE!” She was tackled to the ground.

At first she thought it was Adrien but when she turned around she saw a pair of black cat ears poking out from the blonde head next to hers. “Chat Noir? What are you doing?”

“Akuma was following you. I didn’t want it to get you.”

Her heart lightened. “I appreciate the save but was tackling me really--”

A purple butterfly symbol surrounded her partner’s eyes. _“Hello Chat Noir. So good of you to jump in front of my akuma.”_


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Blanc has come to play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/189241939816/for-better-or-worse-7

“Chat Noir!” Marinette grabbed his arm, “Fight it! Don’t listen to him!”

“Marinette…” he tried to look at her but his vision was obscured by the neon glow around his eyes. A voice echoed in his head.

 _“Chat Noir, you always fight for justice. But what real progress actually happens?”_ The slithery voice of Hawkmoth twisted around his brain.

“Chat Noir, look right at me,” Marinette held his face in her hands, “You can fight him. Don’t let him overpower you. Please!”

 _“You are still so young in your power.”_ Hawkmoth cut through his thoughts again. _“I can give you power uninhibited. A chance to change things once and for all. Dispel real justice against those that have slighted you.”_

“Like you?” Chat Noir bit back.

 _“Like Lila Rossi.”_ Hawkmoth had found a crack in the hero’s armour. _“Like the horrible people that harass your dear friend before you.”_

Marinette may have said something but Hawkmoth spoke over it.

_“They have gone unchecked for far too long. You want them to pay for putting such a dower expression on this young girl’s face. A young girl that has otherwise done nothing wrong. Isn’t that right?”_

“It isn’t right…” Chat Noir could make out Marinette’s tear stricken face staring back at him.

How could anyone want to hurt her? Why are these people hurting the girl he likes? Shouldn’t they be happy for him? Happy for them?

“I want her to be happy…”

 _“Then eliminate the problem.”_ Hawkmoth said, _“You have the power to do so, Chat Blanc.”_

“I do.”

“NO!” Marinette’s scream snapped him out of his trance a moment too late. Her horrified and devastated eyes boring into him before the dark magic consumed him and his mind.

Marinette leapt back from Chat Noir. She was frozen on the ground watching as her partner was lost to Hawkmoth. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. “Chat Noir…”

No. There’s no time for tears. She scrambled to her feet and ran away as fast as her feet could take her. She ducked into a secluded alley and collapsed again against the wall. “Ti--Tikki--”

Tikki flew out of the purse. “Marinette, it’s going to be okay.”

“He took the akuma for me.” The guilt was eating her alive, “Now he--he--what am I supposed to do? I can’t fight an akuma without Chat Noir. Now he is the akuma and--why does that idiot keep sacrificing himself for me!” She banged a fist against the wall.

“You’re the only one that can save him from Hawkmoth.” Tikki said, “I know he’s your partner but he needs you or else Hawkmoth will get his miraculous.”

“I know.” Marinette took a deep breath, “Tikki, transform me.”

She leapt to the roof and searched for Chat Noir. “I’m coming for you, Chat Noir.” a dozen screams from down the road drew her attention, “Please don’t do anything stupid before I do.”

When she arrived at the scene she wasn’t prepared for what she saw. Down on the street a lone figure of stark white stood in the center of a crater. He wasn’t moving.

Marinette took a deep breath and jumped down to the street careful to not trip over the large cracks in the pavement. “Chat Noir?” she said quietly.

The white figure turned around. It looked like Chat Noir but he was completely white. Not just his suit but his hair and his skin paled. It was his eyes that unsettled her the most though. Instead of the bright green she was accustomed to they were bright blue. His expression was blank.

“My lady,” his voice was cool and monotone.

“Chat Noir, I am so sorry this has happened to you.” she took a careful step closer. “But please, you need to stop now before anyone else gets hurt.”

“Why shouldn’t they hurt?” he took a step towards her. “Why should any of them be happy when they make others so sad?”

“Life isn’t fair. That is an inescapable truth. But this,” she gestured to split buildings and overturned cars, “This won’t help anything. If you hurt people then what makes you any better than those that you are targeting?”

“If there are no more people then there can be no one to hurt.”

“Chat Noir--”

“My name is Chat Blanc.” he took another step towards her. The ground shook under them. “When they are gone then we can finally be happy. No one can ruin our happiness.”

“I’m not happy Chat Noir,” she shook her head, “I’m not happy seeing my partner like this.”

“It’s not your happiness I was worried about, my lady.” he stretched a hand out to her, “If you do not help me by giving me your miraculous then you will be slotted with the rest.”

“You know I can’t do that Chat Noir.”

“That is what I expected.” A white ball of power started to form around his hand, “White Storm!”

The light shot at Marinette. She dodged out of the way but the blast hit the building behind her cutting a large hole right through it.

“Chat Noir! Stop it!” she rushed him.

“Black Hole!” he aimed at the ground at her feet.

What looked like a big black dot planted itself in the ground swallowing her up. She lashed out her yo-yo and caught it on a street lamp to pull herself out.

Chat Noir had disappeared.

Okay. Take stock. She needed to find out where he could have gone. He hadn’t done anything between where he was akumatized and the street she found him in. What was different? She looked around the street. It looked familiar for some reason.

“Ladybug! Help!” a voice from inside one of the buildings yelled.

“I’m coming!” she leapt in and found a girl pinned down by rubble. She threw it off and got her out. “Are you alright?”

“I am now,” she shuddered, “I was wrapping up a photo-shoot inside when everything started falling apart.”

Photoshoot! That’s why it was familiar. This was the place Adrien had his photoshoot yesterday. Other than that it wasn’t anything special. Maybe a cop tried to stop him and he went on the offensive. There was a police car overturned nearby.

“Get somewhere safe. I’ll fix this.” she assured her. The girl nodded and ran off.

The only other thing she had to go on was what Chat Noir had said. He just wanted them to be happy. But he wasn’t talking about him and Ladybug. It was someone else.

“It’s me.” she whispered to herself, “He took the akuma for me when I was still in civilian form. Marinette’s the one he’s looking for!”

She had to get back to the school! If he was looking for her then that was probably the first place he would go.

Marinette got to the school and a pit of dread settled in her stomach when she saw students fleeing it. She hadn’t managed to beat him here it seems. She rushed inside and saw Chat Noir in the middle of the building with both hands a blaze with white hot destructive power.

“Chat Noir!” Marinette wrapped her yo-yo around him and pulled him away from the cowering group of students. “Stop it! They haven’t done anything.”

“How would you know?” Chat Noir reached to touch her yo-yo but Marinette pulled it back. “You don’t know what they’ve done.”

“It doesn’t matter! You’ve gone too far. You need to stop.”

“No.” Chat Noir leapt to the second floor and slid into the classroom.

Marinette followed after him. Her classmates were still there! Why hadn’t they fled?

“Chat!” Marinette tackled him to the ground and held him for as long as she could. “Everyone out!”

The students started to flee just as Chat Noir broke out of Marinette’s hold. He kicked her hard in the chest sending her flying into the back wall of the classroom. The hit knocked the breath out of her chest. “Chat…” she stood up on shaky legs, “Please, let me help you.”

“Hand over your miraculous.” He held out his hand.

Marinette slowly made her way towards Chat. When she was close enough she leapt at him and crashed them both into the teacher’s desk. She ripped the bell off his suit and smashed it but no akuma flew out. That was one hiding place down.

“I knew you wouldn’t listen.” he muttered before swiping her legs out from under her sending her back to the floor. He loomed over her like a ghost. “You never listen to me.”

“Chat Noir…”

He aimed a blast of power at her. She was able to roll out of the way in time but he was still coming after her. Slow. Calm. Like he knew he didn’t need to worry about what Marinette may do.

Growing desperate Marinette reached for the closest thing and hurled it at him. It was the bouquet of flowers that had gotten left on Marinette’s desk earlier. Chat caught it in one hand and smashed it in his fist. “Really, my lady,” Chat Noir aimed at her again, “Hand me your miraculous. I don’t want to disintegrate you to get them.”

“Stay away from me!” Marinette grabbed something else and threw it at him.

Again he caught it but this time he didn’t destroy it. Marinette was a little thankful for that considering it was her bookbag she had tossed at him. He paused when he looked at the pink bag in his hand giving Marinette her opening. She sprung back to her feet and bound Chat Noir with her yo-yo.

“Black hole,” Chat flicked his finger.

The ground underneath Marinette vanished and she fell through. She barely caught herself on the edge of the hole that had opened up beneath her before pulling herself back out. Chat had gotten away again. That little black hole trick was proving to be a real hindrance. How was it that he could get free so quickly?

It’s Chat. He’s a hero. He’s supposed to be able to get himself out of tight spots like that.

The fight had winded her but there was no time to rest. Chat Noir was still out there. But where? Marinette went to the window to jump out of when she caught sight of Chat Noir lounging by the chimney stacks of her house. The bookbag she had thrown at him was still in his hands.

He’s still in there. Even if he can’t see it himself. The part that wants to protect people.

Whatever Hawkmoth had put in his head it had something to do with Marinette. Perhaps she could use that to her advantage.

“Lucky Charm!” the yo-yo spun into the air. A football dropping into her hands. “Why can it never be something simple?”

She looked around but saw nothing she could use to help her defeat Chat Noir. Maybe if she had help…

Help! That was it. Ladybug versus Chat Noir with unlimited destructive power was near impossible. But what if she had a team of super-powered individuals? Now that felt like fairer odds.

Judging by the football Marinette guessed that Master Fu had to be at the football game today. With her destination set Marinette gazed out the window one last time. Chat Noir wasn’t on her roof anymore but she could very clearly see that he had left her bookbag on her balcony table.

“I’m gonna fix this, Chat Noir.” Marinette said, “I promise.”

She ran out of the school and dashed along the rooftops to the stadium. When she got closer to the stadium she hid in an alley and dropped her transformation. Hopefully it wouldn’t take long to find Fu. There was no telling what Chat Noir may be doing at that very moment.

She was at the entrance to the stadium when a voice sent a shock up her spine.

“Found you,” Chat Noir stood on top of a stadium sign. “I think it’s time you come with me.”


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien is gonna need some therapy after this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/189425866046/for-better-or-worse-8

A string of violent swear words crossed Marinette’s mind as Chat Noir jumped from his high perch and dropped in front of her. She had been this close and he catches her detransformed?

“Chat Noir,” she stood her ground.

“Chat Blanc,” he corrected her, “Come with me, Marinette.”

“Why?”

“So I can protect you.”

“Protect me from what?”

“From the bad people. From the horrible creatures that roam this dreadful world that would ever make you cry. I’ll keep you away from their hurtful ways until I’ve dealt with them.”

“Chat,” she shook her head, “I’m not going with you.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why not?”

“Cause what you’re doing isn’t right. I don’t want you to hurt anyone.” she told him. “Please, just stop. Let Ladybug fix all this.”

“My lady can fix many things but she cannot fix this.” Chat Noir stepped closer and Marinette took an instinctive step back. “You are going to come with me, Marinette.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere with you. Not when you’re like this.” She dashed to the right trying to get some distance between them. If she could just get away to transform again--

“I’m doing this for you, Marinette.” Chat Noir caught her easily. His hold was too strong as he vaulted them into the air.

They flew across the stadium. They landed in the middle of the field making the players scatter. With one arm he kept Marinette next to him and with his other he blasted a powerful wave of destruction into the ground creating a huge trench around them.

“There. Now no one will be able to get to you.” Chat Noir let her go, “I’ll be back when I’ve dealt with everyone else.”

“Chat Noir, please don’t do this!” she begged, “I don’t want this. I don’t want you to hurt anyone. Please! You have to listen to me.”

“Marinette,” his gaze softened, “I--”

The neon glow of Hawkmoth’s control lit up around his eyes once more. “Leave him alone!” she yelled. “Chat Noir, fight him! You can break free from this.”

“No!” Chat yelled back clutching his head as Hawkmoth spoke to him. “She isn’t happy! I’m making her cry!”

The glowing mask disappeared but Chat was still Chat Blanc. His eyes met Marinette’s again. As dull and lifeless as when she saw them as Ladybug. “Stay.” He commanded in a flat tone.

He vaulted out of the little island he created in the stadium and vanished from sight.

Marinette ran to the edge of the pillar of earth she was now stranded on. The trenches around her were too deep to see the bottom and the jump across was much too far for her. She couldn’t change into Ladybug either. The stadium cameras were projecting her predicament on the jumbo screens.

“Young miss!” someone called from the other side of the chasm. Master Fu! “Do not worry, we will get you out of there.”

A couple other good samaritans rushed over with a long ladder that they set down across the chasm. Cause this is exactly what Marinette wanted to do. Crawl across a creaking ladder just barely big enough to reach her with a seemingly endless abyss below her.

“Be brave, Marinette,” she murmured to herself as she started to crawl across. If the worst should happen then she was going to transform and she didn’t care who saw. It took about ten years off her life but she got across.

“Thank you,” Marinette tried to calm the shaking of her hands, “You saved me.”

“Come with me, young miss,” Master Fu escorted her over to the player tunnel. “You can wait here for emergency services.”

Once they were out of sight from the others Marinette dropped to the ground again. She was going to need so much therapy after today.

“Marinette,” Master Fu asked, “What happened?”

“An akuma targeted me while I was a civilian and Chat Noir accidentally took it for me instead. I tried to cleanse the akuma but he’s too strong as Chat Blanc. I need help.” she told him.

“I see,” he withdrew the miracle box from a giant rolling cooler he had been dragging around. “Choose an aid to help fight with you. After you have purified the akuma you will return the miraculous to me.”

“Chat Noir knows all my moves as Ladybug. He’s also far too powerful to take on solo. I have an idea but it is going to take a lot of miraculous.” Marinette grabbed the fox, turtle, monkey, and horse miraculous.

“You are positive you need this many?” Master Fu looked at her numerous choices.

“Unfortunately so.” Marinette stuffed the miraculous in her purse, “If he’s not stopped soon then he’s going to hurt a lot of people, destroy the city, and hand over his miraculous to Hawkmoth. I won’t let that happen. I can’t let it happen.”

“You are a strong Ladybug, Marinette. I know you will do whatever it takes to right this wrong.” Master Fu packed the miracle box away. “When you are done I will be here to collect the miraculous.”

“I won’t let you down, master,” Marinette said, “Tikki, transform me!”

It took several trips around town but Marinette found everyone she needed to carry out her plan. It wasn’t a particularly clever plan but with Chat Noir she didn’t have time for nuance. There was too much at stake.

“Alright, is everyone clear on what you need to do?” Marinette asked the team. “Once I get Chat Noir back to the stadium we’ll need to move fast.”

The team nodded and took their places around the ruins of the stadium. Once everyone was in place Marinette took to the roofs. She needed to find Chat Noir again.

She eventually found him sitting on a roof. His gaze sweeping the streets below like he was searching for someone.

“Chat Noir!” Marinette shouted grabbing his attention. “This needs to end now. I won’t let your recklessness hurt anyone else.”

He didn’t say anything. He only stared at her, his hand stretched out with power growing behind it.

There was a chance this could backfire horribly but she was choosing not to think about that part. “Don’t you even care? You hurt the person you were trying to protect!”

His arm started to lower. Time for the final punch. “You hurt Marinette! She tried escaping that pillar of land you placed her on and...the ladder...it just broke.”

“No.” Chat Noir bound past her at the speed of light towards the stadium. It may have been cruel but at least once he was back to normal he wouldn’t remember any of this.

Marinette was barely able to keep up with him as he raced towards the stadium. When they finally made it Marinette was relieved to see the illusion of herself in place. Chat Noir jumped to the illusion without a second thought.

Once he was in place the illusion disappeared in a puff of smoke. Carapace’s green shield surrounded Chat Noir firmly trapping him inside. “Pegasus! King Monkey! Now!”

A portal inside the shield opened and King Monkey leapt out of it wielding a rubber goose that he hit Chat Noir with. The shield dropped and all the heroes converged on him and bound him. He wouldn’t remain powerless forever.

“Lucky Charm!” she waited as her power produced a bag of cookies.

“No!” Chat Noir struggled against the binds. “Let me go! Let me go!”

Marinette knelt down in front of him. “Chat Noir, it is going to be okay.”

“No it won’t!” he bit back, “It won’t be okay! People keep saying it’ll get better but it won’t! It will never get better!”

“Maybe not immediately but in time it will. Whatever it is you’re hurting over.” she opened the bag up and held it out to him, “But in the meantime cookies help with the pain.”

“Cookies?” he stared down at the bag. The fight seemed to leave his body. “Chocolate chip?”

“Sure are.” she fed him one. There were tears streaming down his face. She wiped them away. “Chat Noir, where’s the akuma?”

“Staff.” he muttered. “It is in my staff.”

The neon glow surrounded his eyes once more. He shut his eyes to it. “Quick, get rid of it!”

She grabbed the staff off his back and broke it in two over her knee. “No more evil-doing for you little akuma.” she purified it and watched as the little white butterfly fluttered off into the distance. “Miraculous Ladybug!” she sent the Lucky Charm back to the sky so the ladybugs could fix everything.

Chat Noir’s white vistage melted away into the black clad and green-eyed partner she knew and loved. She nodded to the others and they let him go. She couldn’t help it and tackled him in a hug. She was so happy he was back to normal. This nightmare was finally over.

“Ladybug?” Chat looked down at his partner clinging tightly to him. “What happened? Why is everyone here?”

“You big idiot,” she shook her head, “Don’t you dare scare me like that again!”

“Scare you? What did I…” the pieces started to fit together, “There was an akuma chasing Marinette. I pushed her out of the way and then--was I an akuma?”

“Chat,” Ladybug was using that soft voice she pulled out for akuma victims.

“No. No!” he started shaking, “I couldn’t be!”

“Chat Noir, look at me!” Ladybug grabbed his face and turned it back to her, “It’s not your fault.”

Her earrings started to beep as well as the miraculous of the others.

“Ladybug…”

“I want to stay. I really do.” Ladybug looked heartbroken, “But I gotta go right now.”

“Please, I can’t--”

“I know. You have no idea how much I wish I didn’t need to go.” she hugged him again, “Top of the Eiffel tower, tonight. Okay?”

“Okay.” he let her go. She gave him one more pitying look before taking off with the others following behind.

He wasn’t going to make it to tonight.

\---

Marinette had barely made it out of sight before her transformation wore off. She stowed the miraculous in her purse next to Tikki for safekeeping. She’d return them to Master Fu in a minute but right now she needed to breathe.

Fighting Chat Noir was the worst experience of her life. She had been through the ringer these past couple of weeks but this was the cherry on top of her disaster sundae. Then having to leave him all alone because her stupid transformation was wearing off.

She angrily kicked a discarded box in the alleyway. After what he had been through he needed her and she couldn’t stay. What kind of a partner was she?

Solemnly she returned the miraculous to Master Fu. There was something he wanted to say but held off. Perhaps he had noticed how upset she was and didn’t want to add to her distress.

Still, the walk back to the bakery gave her plenty of time to think. Too much time.

She couldn’t forget Chat. She wanted to transform and find him and give him all the love and consolation in the world. He shouldn’t be alone during a time like this.

“Marinette!” her parents breathed out in relief when they saw her come inside, “We were so worried! Why weren’t you answering your phone?”

“Worried? Because of the akuma?” Marinette was too tired to deal with this.

“Yes. It is all over the news.” Her mom pulled up her phone and showed her the news cast. The video showed news cameras and reporters televising the fight between Ladybug and Chat Blanc. Then there was the moment where Chat Blanc had abducted Marinette and left her stranded in the middle of the football stadium.

No wonder her parents were worried.

“I’m fine, mom and dad. Chat Noir saved me from being akumatized and he’s back to normal now so there is nothing to worry about anymore.”

The door to the bakery burst open making everyone inside jump. Adrien was standing in the doorway out of breath. He locked eyes with Marinette behind the counter and ran up to her crushing her in his arms.

“Adrien--what are--” he was shaking so much. “Hey, what’s wrong? Adrien?”

He wouldn’t speak. Or maybe he couldn’t.

“Is it because of the akuma?” Marinette asked.

He squeezed her even tighter. Marinette looked to her parents frightened. This wasn’t like him.

“Adrien,” Her mom rested a hand on his back, “How about you and Marinette head upstairs. I’ll bring you some sweets and brew up a pot of tea. Sound good?”

Adrien nodded. Quickly Marinette ushered him out of the bakery and into the stairwell. They barely made it halfway up the stairs before Adrien broke down completely. He just dropped onto the steps curling into himself and shuddering with sobs.

“Adrien,” Marinette knelt next to him, “Please tell me what’s wrong. You’re worrying me.”

“So--Sorry,” he hiccuped, “I was--I was--”

“Take it slow. Deep breath.” Marinette held him close, “It is going to be alright. Whatever it is we’ll make it better.”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, “I’m so sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” Marinette asked.

“Couldn’t protect you.” He sniffed. “Followed you...saw the akuma…”

“Protect...oh, Adrien,” Marinette hugged him closer, “That wasn’t something you could control. What happened today wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes it was.” He muttered in between sobs, “I could have--I should have been better. I should have done more for you.”

“Adrien, look at me,” She held his face in her hands. His big green eyes bloodshot and filled with tears, “What happened today was not your fault. The only person to blame for any of this is Hawkmoth.”

“But I--”

“No! Stop blaming yourself.” she wiped away his tears, “You couldn’t control what happened. Nor does it matter now. We’re here, we’re safe, and we’re together.”

“There’s so much…” he sighed, “So much I want to tell you. So much I have to keep inside. It is crushing me and after today it felt like it flattened me into dust.”

“I know how you feel.” Marinette rested her forehead against his, “I haven’t been able to be just myself in so long that it feels like I’m being suffocated.”

“Really?” he sniffed loudly.

“We’re pretty messed up.” Marinette held his hands, “But maybe when we’re together we can be okay for a little while.”

“We’re okay?” He finally smiled. It was small and broken but it was there. “We’ll be okay?”

Marinette kissed the back of his hand. “We’ll be okay.”


	9. Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything will be okay...eventually

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/189649579706/for-better-or-worse-9

Adrien had left the worst of his breakdown out on the stairs and now he and Marinette were cuddled on the couch. Marinette’s mom had brought them their promised tea and cookies as well as a blanket fresh out of the dryer. It was the optimal relaxing atmosphere.

“I can’t help but feel that what happened today was my fault too.” Marinette sighed. “If I hadn’t tried to internalize everything and just admitted that I was upset then maybe Chat Noir never would have gotten akumatized protecting me.”

“I thought the only one to blame was Hawkmoth, remember?” Adrien said.

“He is the only one to blame but--I shouldn’t have let all those commenters get to me. I kept shrugging them off and laughing but every time I saw one of those comments...it hurt.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Adrien hugged her closer, “I’ve been getting comments too but not nearly as many as you’ve received I gather. It isn’t fair that we should have to deal with this crap. We’re just teenagers. Why does everyone want a piece of our lives to judge?”

“Cause the people that obsess over stuff like that are people who can’t find enough enjoyment in their own lives so they live vicariously through those they admire and react negatively when they do something they don’t like.”

“Wow. Just off the top of your head?”

“I did some research on mob mentality and celebrity fixation after Alya advised us to stay off social media. It is actually quite fascinating.”

“I love having a smarty pants girlfriend.”

“Do we have a plan moving forward? Is there anything we want to do concerning these haters?” Marinette asked. “I don’t know how well they’ll react if we post something telling them to behave. Telling a large group of people that idolize you that you don’t like how they’re acting cannot end well. They usually go on the defensive and suddenly you’re the jerk for telling them you’re upset at they’re behaviour.”

“Maybe we try a different tactic.” Adrien pulled out his phone and flipped the camera on them. “One...two…” he kissed her cheek catching her off guard.

“What was that for?” Marinette giggled.

“Look,” he showed her the photo. “Do we look cute?”

“Duh”

“Good.” he pulled up his instagram and posted the picture. _“Glad my doodle bug is safe after a stressful day. Nothing a good afternoon cuddle can’t cure though. Blessed to have a wonderful and brave girlfriend like @marinettedesigned in my life.”_

“You are so corny,” Marinette laughed but the comment did make her heart flutter, “And you think that’s gonna stop people from posting mean comments?”

“I hope that they’ll see this isn’t a casual relationship and that we have real feelings for each other. Then maybe they’ll back off.”

“Either way it is a cute picture of us.”

“You’re in it so of course it is cute.”

“You are such a corny boyfriend!” Marinette rolled her eyes.

It was almost an hour later when Adrien’s phone started blowing up. He was supposed to have been home twenty minutes ago and his father was not happy about it. Reluctantly Adrien left their warm blanket cacoon and headed home.

With Adrien gone Marinette felt the weight of the day fall back on her. And she still had her meet up with Chat Noir later tonight to go to. Comforting one blonde boy to the next. She felt bad getting comforting snuggle time with her boyfriend while her partner was out there possibly having an anxiety attack.

When night finally came Marinette was out the door and zipping across the roofs towards the Eiffel Tower. She scaled the tower to the very top and was relieved when she saw Chat Noir sitting on the edge.

“Hey Chat Noir,” She came to sit next to him.

“Hey,” Chat smiled at her.

“How are you doing?”

“Better than I was this afternoon. I got some emotional support cuddles from my girlfriend after what happened so that helped a lot.”

“Isn’t cuddling just the best medicine?” Marinette chuckled. “But really, are you okay? You had really scared me, Chat.”

“I’m not going to act like I’m perfectly fine cause I’m not.” He stared out over the city. “I watched the news footage.”

“You know shouldn’t have done that. We warn akuma victims not to every time.”

“I know but I couldn’t help it. I needed to see what happened. seeing myself like that...it was horrible. I caused so much damage and pain and I put people I care about in danger.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t just go away. But it wasn’t you, Chat Noir. It was Hawkmoth. What that villain did does not define you. I need you to understand that. None of what happened today was your fault.”

“I know that Hawkmoth is the reason everything went downhill but I gave in to him. I could have fought him off. I could have not let my emotions take over to that point but I did.” his hands clenched into fists, “All I can remember is being angry and upset and just wanting everyone to stop hurting people I care about.”

“Chat…”

“I should have been stronger. I’m a hero. I’m your partner. I can’t afford to be weak like I was today.”

“Kitty, look at me,” Marinette lifted her partner’s chin up, “I want you to stop blaming yourself for everything. I hate seeing you like this. You are one of the strongest people I know. But you’re also human and we humans break down from time to time. There’s no shame in having emotions. It isn’t weakness.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You’ve never been akumatized.”

“I almost was.”

“What?” Chat’s eyes looked like they were about ready to pop out of his head.

“I’ve almost been akumatized a couple times now. I was only barely able to keep it at bay.”

“You never told me this.”

“I didn’t want to worry you.” Marinette scratched behind Chat’s ear, “You’re always watching my back and throwing yourself into the line of fire for me so I know that if I were to be akumatized you’d find a way to blame yourself. That’s not what I want. All I want and all I need is you standing by my side.”

“I didn’t stand by your side today.”

“Cause it was my turn to help you. Also, you fought to come back. Before I purified the akuma there were moments when the real you broke through. You were in there and you tried to get out. I’d say that means a lot more than being akumatized in the first place.”

“Are you trying to make me cry again, my lady?”

“I’m only being honest. I don’t know what I did to deserve a great partner like you, kitty.” She rested her head on his shoulder.

“You know I love you, Ladybug.” Chat leaned his cheek against the top of her head. “In a platonic, friendly way of course.”

“Of course,” Marinette said, “I love you too.”

\---

The days following the Chat Blanc incident were not fun. Some people were concerned about Chat Noir not being stable enough for super hero duties. The majority of Adrien’s fans were still being gremlins. And Marinette was having a hell of a time playing mediator.

The Chat Noir problem was simple. Marinette as Ladybug got on the news and directly addressed the issue with Chat Noir at her side saying that he was more than fit to defend their city. If they were to judge each other because of Hawkmoth’s terror then what did that say about the citizens of Paris? Chat Noir had to step in calm his partner down when she really started to get heated.

Apparently seeing their super hero duo promising that they will always be there to defend them and save the day put the citizens at ease once more. Also, no reporter wanted to incur the wrath of an angry and defensive Ladybug by suggesting that Chat was anything other than an upstanding hero.

The Chat Blanc incident had added a new level of seriousness to Chat. He still joked and laughed and made his puns but when Ladybug was focusing so was he.

The next patrol they were out on Chat Noir stated his interest into putting more effort into finding out who Hawkmoth is. It surprised Marinette but she didn’t disagree. Hawkmoth had been becoming steadily worse with each akuma he created. Not to mention the Amoks running about thanks to Mayura. She came out onto the front lines more than Hawkmoth so she was really their best bet. Capture Mayura and they could then capture Hawkmoth.

Something a bit less important as stoping a terrorist but felt just as daunting was dealing with the jealous Adrien fans. That front was taking a bit more work. After the picture Adrien posted of Marinette and him snuggling went up there was a good flood of messages from the more balanced fans saying that they were happy for them and how disappointed they were in the toxic side of the fanbase. Then the inevitable hater comments started to filter in but the others were standing up for Adrien and Marinette. The initial hype and hate from the jealous fans had hit its peak and was on the decline.

They still had a ways to go but at least they had a good chunk of the fanbase shutting down the haters.

The best part of all of this though? Now that Adrien and Marinette were publicly dating and most of the drama from fans had abated Adrien could now ask Marinette out on a proper date. Only problem? He wasn’t sure what would make a good first date activity. Sure they had already been dating for almost a month now but this was their first official date. He wanted it to be special.

To be honest, Adrien already had a great date idea. The only problem was that it was the same date idea he had set up for Ladybug before the Glaciator incident. He knew Marinette would like it since he had taken her there as Chat Noir but recreating a romantic picnic that he had done for another girl felt gross. His second thought was to go ice skating but that place brought back memories of his sorta date with Kagami.

Adrien recruited Nino to help him drum up some thoughts on what activities they could do. After all Nino had been dating Alya for months now. Surely he had some fun date ideas.

“I have no ideas.”

“Nino!”

“I’m sorry! I can give you a bunch of traditional date ideas but you’re the one insisting that it needs to be different.” Nino sighed, “I don’t understand why you’re worrying so much about this. Marinette is going to love anything you put together. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Dinner and a movie would work fine.”

“I don’t want our first official date to just be fine. I want it to be great.”

“Great doesn’t have to be extravagant.”

“I’m not looking for something huge just something different. Dinner and movie is a date I will take her out on in the future but for a first date it needs to be something special. Something we’ll remember and won’t just get tangled into the other dates.”

Adrien sighed, dropping his head into his hands. “Ever since we started dating things have been rough on us, but especially Marinette. I want to plan something that shows her how much she means to me. Something that makes up for all I’ve put her through with this relationship.”

“Dude,” Nino flicked the side of his head, “That’s stupid. You haven’t put her through anything that she wasn’t already bracing herself for. Sure the jealous fans got out of control and it caused some pain but you don’t need to apologize for their behaviour. I mean what turned a lot of your crazies around was that simple snapshot of you and Marinette relaxing. All you have to do is have fun with your girlfriend and tell her what it is she means to you.”

“You make it sound like it’s that easy.”

“Cause it is. Alya and I go on low-key dates all the time because all we really need to be happy is being with each other. Planning something nice once in a while is great but the real meat of intimacy is communication.”

“What is with everyone and the mature advice all of the sudden? Last week I watched you try to use your glasses as chopsticks.”

“I can be stupid and deep at the same time. It’s one of the reasons Alya loves me.” Nino boasted. “But seriously, don’t over think this whole date thing. Choose something you’ll both enjoy, maybe something you haven’t tried before, and go from their. So long as you have fun then you’ll remember it. Okay?”

“You’re right.” Adrien nodded, “I will.”

“Okay,” Nino ruffled his friend’s hair. “Let’s look over what we’ve written down again, lover boy.”


	10. Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette's first date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/189699028006/for-better-or-worse-10

Marinette was sitting at home mindlessly doodling in her notebook when a knock on the front door drew her attention. She went to answer it and was pleasantly surprised to see Adrien. “Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked.

“First,” Adrien pulled a bouquet of pink flowers. “They’re chrysanthemums.”

“They’re beautiful.” Marinette took the bouquet. “Come on in while I put these in some water.”

Adrien stepped inside. “So I heard from Alya that you didn’t have any plans today.”

“Nope.” Marinette put the flowers in a vase, “Pretty bored actually. Is that why you dropped by?”

“It is indeed. But for something a little nicer than a day sitting inside like we usually do.”

“That so?”

“Yes,” He was practically bouncing, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, we have been dating for almost a month now so I think it is high time I ask you on a real first date.”

“Wow, only twenty five days into being boyfriend and girlfriend and you only now ask me on a first date?” Marinette teased. “I’d love to. What did you have in mind?”

“It’s a surprise. Go on and change into something comfortable, that you can move in and with a skirt.”

“Real specific.”

“It has to be.”

“Okay. Be right back.” Marinette ran upstairs and started tearing apart her closet. This was way too sudden! Her first real date with Adrien and she had no outfit prepared! Also what was with those specifications? Where could he possibly be taking her?

Marinette could feel the minutes ticking by before she said screw it and grabbed a knee length maroon skirt and a plain black t-shirt. A pair of black flats and her big warm coat and she was back downstairs. “Will this do?”

“Perfect.” Adrien held out a hand, “We even match.”

“Huh?” Marinette looked over his own outfit. Maroon button up shirt, black slacks and shoes. “I guess we do.”

“We should get going now before we’re late.”

“Late for what?” Adrien pulled her out of the house and into the car waiting out front.

“You’ll see,” They drove a ways before the car finally stopped outside a large building.

“A dance studio?” Marinette looked at Adrien.

“Yep. I signed us up for a one-day dance class. Does that sound fun?”

“Totally.” Now the attire instructions made sense. “I just can’t believe you’d want to hurt your poor toes like that. You know I have two left feet.”

“At Chloe’s party you danced wonderfully.”

“That was a simple box step and it’s a miracle I didn’t step on your toes then.” Marinette laughed. “What did you sign us up for?”

“Tango.”

“Oh, didn’t expect you to choose that.”

“Do you not like it?”

“No! Of course not. It’s just a bit surprising. I thought you were more of a waltz kinda guy.”

“That was my first instinct but Nino said that this would take us out of our comfort zone and it also seemed a lot less stuffy.”

“Well I’m certainly interested.” They walked in. Marinette got a change of shoes for the lesson and they did a couple stretches before their instructor started to explain what they’d be learning today.

“First I am going to get you into your frame so step close.” The instructor put them in front of each other.

“Alright, Adrien, nice strong frame, arm up like this and the other on the small of her back. Marinette, clasp his hand and you are going to place this other hand right here by his shoulder blade like so.” The instructor framed them up. “Okay kids, you’re gonna need to get closer than that. Chest to chest.”

They were pushed even closer together. “Hi there” Adrien chuckled.

“Hi” Marinette blushed.

“Now that you have your frame we’ll start with the steps.” The instructor showed them.

“Dang it,” Marinette chuckled when she stepped forward with the wrong foot. “Sorry.”

“You’re fine, let’s just try this way,” Adrien took a step forward and stepped on her toe.

“Ouch!” Marinette grimaced.

“I am so sorry!” Adrien wanted to bash his head against the wall. Keep in perfect sync with Ladybug while handcuffed to defeat an akuma? No problem. Take two steps without stepping on his girlfriend’s feet in a dance lesson? Fool!

“It’s okay,” Marinette assured him, “I’ll still be able to walk.”

Their lesson continued on until Marinette and Adrien were gliding across the dance floor. Well, it wasn’t exactly gliding but more of an elegant stutter. Still, it made them smile and laugh and Marinette relished in being close to Adrien like this. It felt a lot more intimate then when they cuddled on the couch.

“This is nice,” Marinette said as they tried to keep in time with the music. “I would have never thought to go to a dance lesson for a date.”

“I’m glad you’re having fun.” Adrien said.

“Are you having fun?” She asked.

“Tons.” he spun her out and then back to his chest. “When we aren’t stepping on each other that is.”

“Who knew out of the two of us you would be the one with two left feet.”

“I am a great dancer, doodle bug. I was just a little nervous.”

“Why were you nervous?” Marinette smirked. “Wouldn’t happen to do with wanting to impress little old me on our first official date, is it? Or maybe you aren’t used to being this close to a girl for so long your brain shorted out.”

“Oh? It’s like that, huh?” Adrien gaped at her with a wide smile. “That is so far off the mark. I wasn’t actually nervous. I was just trying to make you feel better.”

“Uh huh. And the fact that I could feel your heart pounding before we even started dancing meant nothing? That’s just your resting heartbeat? Seems very unhealthy.”

“You are so smug right now, aren’t you?”

“Little bit.” she winked.

He gave her little dip that made her snort. When she came back up Adrien’s face was bright red and his eyes wide.

“Getting winded, sunshine?” Marinette pressed a cool hand against his burning cheek.

“Something like that.” He glanced down at his toes then back up at Marinette.

“I think that we have it for the day.” the instructor stopped the music. “You two progressed beautifully for such a short time. Do you think you’d stop in for more lessons? I’d be happy to add you two to the normal tango class or you can keep attending private lessons.”

“What do you think, Marinette?” Adrien asked.

“It was a lot of fun and I’d certainly like to but do you really want to add dance lessons onto your already busy schedule? I don’t want you burning yourself out for me.”

“I have a lot of stamina and if we keep it to say a lesson a week or so I don’t think it’ll interfere too bad. You also have a crazy agenda, doodle bug.”

“This is true.”

“You don’t need to decide right now.” The instructor told them, “If you change your mind just give us a call.”

“Thank you,” Adrien said.

“You two have a great rest of your day. It was nice to see you again, Adrien. I hope to hear from you soon.” The instructor walked out. Marinette and Adrien got ready to leave and walked back out to the car.

“I have to go home for a Chinese lesson after this so I won’t be able to take you out to lunch but I did have Gorilla pick up some snacks to eat on the drive back.” Adrien pulled out a package of nutella biscuits.

“Heck yeah!” Marinette cracked open a bag. “Anything to drink?”

“May Tea,” he pulled out two bottles from seemingly nowhere. “Green tea and mint for you. Black tea and peach for me.”

“Dating you is the best decision I ever made.” Marinette chugged half her tea in one go. “Dance lessons, nutella, and tea. This is great!”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” He pinched her knee. “Didn’t think store bought snacks would get me so many boyfriend points.”

“It’s the little things, baby.” Marinette chuckled, “Gotta romanticize the little things.”

“Like the good natured heckling my girlfriend gives me during a dance lesson?”

“Yep.”

“Good to know.”

“That reminds me, the instructor said she was happy to see you again. Did you know her before?”

“Vaguely. She was a relatively new instructor back when I was a kid that used to help with the child dance classes.” Adrien shrugged.

“You used to dance?” Marinette had done a lot of research on Adrien before they had started dating but she had never come across this little tidbit of information. It was nice that she was still learning things about him.

“I did ballet until I was eight.”

“Adrien the prima ballerina.” Marinette could just imagine tiny Adrien in his leotard trying to pirouette. “Why’d you stop?”

“Decided it wasn’t for me and took up karate instead.”

“And how long did that last?”

“Five months.”

“Adrien!”

“I was a very indecisive child!”

“Okay, so when did you start piano and fencing?”

“I started fencing when I was eleven after a couple years experimenting with tennis, basketball, and gymnastics. As for piano that started when I was really little. My mom knew how to play but much preferred violin. For years it was my father that taught me how to play. I can remember sitting on his lap at the piano with my hands over his as he played songs. Mom would accompany us on her violin. It was great.”

“That’s so sweet.”

“There was this one song that my mom and father actually wrote together. It was a lullaby they named ‘Adrien’s Song.’ When I had a nightmare or when I was sick they would play it for me to lull me back to sleep.”

“My mom did that too. My dad can’t sing a lick but mom would wrap me in a blanket fresh and warm out of the dryer and sing me this old chinese lullaby that’s been passed down through the generations. Always put me right back to sleep.”

“I like this.”

“This what?”

“Being able to talk about my mom like it isn’t some big tragedy.” Adrien sighed, “It seems any time she’s mentioned nowadays it’s only to be sad. She wouldn’t want that...wherever she is.”

“Oh Adrien,” Marinette pulled him down so he was resting against her shoulder and started to sing. _“The moon is watching over you. The moon is bright tonight. Everything is asleep. Everything is still. Fall off to sleep. Fall into dreams. The sun will rise in the morning. The sun will warm your home. Tomorrow you will wake. Tomorrow you will rise. There is no rush. There is no hurry. Fall off to sleep. Fall into dreams. The moon is watching over you.”_

“You have a nice voice.”

“I’m glad you speak Chinese so I don’t have to translate.” Marinette brushed some hair out of his face.

They pulled up to the bakery. “I wish we could have stayed out longer but I have a Chinese lesson in like twenty minutes that I cannot be late for or else my father will kill me.”

“It was perfect. Go have fun learning Chinese.” Marinette slid out of the car. “I’ll talk to you later tonight. Oops, almost forgot.” She jumped back in and gave Adrien a kiss on the cheek. “Bye.”

“Marinette,” Adrien caught her hand as she tried to pull away. His eyes searched her face for what she couldn’t tell. Finally he kissed her hand before letting her go. “Bye.”

“Bye. Again.” Marinette held her hand close to her chest.

The car door closed and Adrien watched Marinette fade into the distance as the car headed back to the house.

The date replayed in his head and his heart started to beat faster. The dance lesson had brought some new feelings to light that Adrien hadn’t expected.

Being so close to Marinette like that. Moving together in a dance commonly, if not exclusively, meant for lovers. When he decided to be cheeky and give her a dip near the end of the lesson and she gave that tiny snort with her head thrown back it hit him like a truck. Marinette wasn’t just his cute girlfriend that gave him couch cuddles and stole his hoodie. She wasn’t just his pretty classmate in her polka dot skirts and pastel lip gloss. She was hot!

Whoa! Cool down, Agreste! Do not objectify your girlfriend like that!

While Adrien found Marinette beautiful this was the first time he really found himself attracted to her. Goodness that sounded bad. Not that he wasn’t attracted to her in the first place but attracted in a more physical sort than before. Holding her close with her chest pressed to his and that sweet smell of her perfume radiating off her. He near lost his mind trying to keep his thoughts straight.

Then when he dropped her off and she jumped back in the car for a goodbye kiss he had hoped beyond anything that she was aiming for his lips. He had bit back a disappointed whine when she slid to kiss his cheek like normal. He almost pulled her back into the car for a proper kiss before he thought better of it. If she was still only kissing his cheek and forehead then she must not be completely comfortable with him yet.

Maybe after a couple more dates like today that would change. They were supposed to be taking this slow after all. Nice...and...slow.

That night he had a dream that Marinette and him were on a roof top tangoing like professionals. He blinked and Marinette’s normal clothes had melted away into a red dress as bright as Adrien’s face. He spun her out and back in flat to his chest. Her face drew nearer. He could practically feel her soft lips on his and the overwhelming scent of her perfume. It was...cheesy?

“Wake up!” Plagg wriggled out of his hands. “Kiss your girlfriend, not me.”

Adrien didn’t have the energy to apologize at that moment. His heart was beating fast and all the warmth that had been in his dream felt like it was being sucked out of him. It had felt so real up until his stink cheese cat woke him up. Now he was empty and anxious for something out of his reach.

He grabbed his pillow and muffled his aggravated shrieks. Maybe when he fell back asleep the dream would pick up where he left off.


	11. Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila enters the fray

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/189746429381/for-better-or-worse-11

Marinette was on the phone with Alya for half an hour gushing about her first date with Adrien. She had kept her cool for the most part during the date but couldn’t help but revert back to her squeeing crush fantasy mentality for a bit. How could she avoid it? She had been fantasizing about this exact scenario for over a year and it was finally real. She was going to be excited about it and no one was allowed to judge her.

Alya listened and asked for every detail. It was after Marinette had finally calmed down a bit that Alya then told her she, Alya, was currently out on a date with Nino.

“Why didn’t you say that earlier? I’ve been talking your ear off for the past like forty five minutes.” Marinette felt bad for interrupting them.

“Girl, I was not gonna put you on pause when you were ready to spill all the juicy details about your first date with your new boyfriend. Besides, Nino had to run back to his house and grab more money since he didn’t have enough for lunch and refuses to let me help him pay since I paid last time.”

“Wait, who is watching the kids? I know Nora is out of town this week.”

“Lila.”

Marinette’s smile cracked. “Oh...okay then.”

“Okay, real talk for a second, what is your problem with Lila?” Alya asked. “I get that you think she’s a liar and the fact that she had a thing for Adrien in the past was not ideal when you were crushing on him hardcore but she hasn’t done anything. She backed off Adrien after you he started dating you and she’s really nice. What is up your butt when it comes to her?”

Marinette groaned inward. She knew her attempts at trying to convince people Lila was a liar never worked but it also never stopped being annoying. “I can’t explain it. I get a bad feeling around her and I don’t trust her. Have you never had one of those gut instincts? You barely meet someone and for no reason you just don’t like them immediately.”

“You mean like how every little thing about them annoys you and you know it doesn’t make sense but you are going to be salty the entire time you interact with them?

“Yes! That!”

“I guess I can see that. For the longest time I had the same reaction to Nathaneal.”

“Why Nathaneal?”

“I don’t know! The first day I met him I justed wanted to slap his stupid bangs off his head. I grew out of it though. Maybe the same will happen with you and Lila.”

“Yeah…” Marinette was glad Alya couldn’t see the disgusted face she was making. “Maybe.”

“And I see my boytoy huffing and puffing back up the street. I’ll see you tomorrow for study group.” Alya said.

“See you then.” Marinette hung up.

Having to talk about Lila ruined Marinette’s mood a smidge but hopefully now Alya wouldn’t badger her for not liking Lila anymore.

“I found them!” Tikki popped out of Marinette’s bookbag holding a brand new stack of notecards.

“Thanks, Tikki,” Marinette took the cards. “I should have started these flash cards earlier but I had zero motivation.”

Marinette put on some music and got to work on her flashcards. It was a big exam they had this week and Marinette was determined to do well on it. She had flashcards, study guides, scheduled out her time for studying solo at home and group studies each day before the exam. Now if Hawkmoth could not send an akuma during her study time that would be perfect. Marinette was used to allnighters but wanted to avoid one as much as she could.

By some miracle Marinette made it to the test without incident. She had been studying all week and now it was all going to pay off...hopefully. She breezed through the test and was one of the first done which made her nervous at first but she brushed it off. She did well. She just needed to keep faith in herself.

The next day everything went wrong. Everyone was filtering into the classroom. Marinette was just about to get her good morning kiss from Adrien when Ms. Bustier called her out into the hall.

“Yes, Ms. Bustier?” Marinette asked.

“Sorry to do this but I am going to have to ask you to open your bookbag, Marinette.” Ms. Bustier said.

“What for?”

“I received an anonymous note in my mailbox claiming that you had stolen the exam answer sheet.”

“What!” Marinette’s eyes bugged out of her skull, “Ms. Bustier, I would never.”

“I know. You are a smart student and an honest one as well but I do have to follow up on this just to be sure. Also, you scored a perfect one hundred percent. If there isn’t an answer sheet in your bag then you can take pride in having the highest score of the class.”

“I got a hundred percent!” Marinette was so happy to hear the news she almost forgot about the accusation of the theft. “You can look in my bag but I didn’t take the answers. I studied. I studied hard. Ask anyone in the classroom. They’ll confirm.”

Ms. Bustier rustled through some papers in Marinette’s bag before pulling out a crumpled ball. She unfurled it and frowned. “Marinette…”

“No,” Marinette snagged the paper and looked on in horror at the answer sheet. “Ms. Bustier, I didn’t take this! I swear! I have no idea how it got in there. Someone must have planted it!”

“Everything okay out here?” Lila’s face appeared in the doorway, “I heard shouting.”

Marinette’s vision tunneled. “You! It was you!”

“Huh? What did I do?” Lila asked innocently.

“You planted the answer sheet in my bag!” Marinette wanted so desperately to maintain her composure but Lila’s mere presence was enough to tick her off. 

Marinette wanted to believe that there was good in everybody. Lila had actually been sufferable these past weeks since Marinette and Adrien started dating. She still lied for everything she was worth but she didn’t seem to be acting maliciously. Marinette had even gone so far as to invite the lying devil to the group study sessions as a proverbial olive branch. And this was how she thanked her?

“Marinette, calm down, Lila, please step out here.” Ms. Bustier put herself between the two girls. “Marinette, I understand you are upset but do you have any proof that Lila put the answer sheet in your bag.”

“No.”

“Besides, Lila got the worse grade in the class. If she had stolen the answers wouldn’t she have used them to get a better grade?”

“I did that poorly?”

“I wouldn’t put it past her to flunk on purpose.” Marinette muttered but her comment didn’t go unnoticed.

“Alright, will the both of you please head to the principal’s office so we can get this sorted out. I’ll join you shortly.” Ms. Bustier re-entered the classroom and sighed at the group of students huddled near the door eavesdropping. “Return to your seats, please.”

Adrien gave her a sympathetic look from the doorway.

“I’ll be fine.” Marinette assured him. She blew him a quick kiss then headed to the principal’s office with Lila.

“I swore I'd make your life unbearable, Marinette. Let's see how you get out of this one.” Lila said, an evil grin plastered on her face.

“You are not gonna get to me, Lila.” Marinette squared her shoulders.

“I mean you say that but you did seem very upset with my flowers.”

Marinette stopped. “You’re the one that left that death threat bouquet on my desk?”

“Duh. My mom’s new boyfriend had them delivered to the house but she wasn’t home so I found a better use for them.”

“That’s low. Were you also the one that wrote threatening messages on my locker?”

“No. I just started it.” Lila’s grin grew, “If you are trying to keep something a secret it’s best not to canoodle in the street.”

“You took the picture…” Marinette’s fists started to shake. “I’m not even surprised. I knew you were being too quiet. All that time Adrien and I have been dating you sat in the background hoping the stress from jealous fans would tear us apart.”

“Yeah. But you proved to be annoyingly resistant. It’s no matter. Soon everything will come together and this little pity relationship you have with Adrien will crash and burn.”

“He won’t be fooled by you, Lila. He knows what you truly are.”

“Maybe. But I doubt he’d want a girlfriend that goes so far as to physically hurt someone.”

“What are you--”

Lila smirked before she sent herself rolling down the steps. This girl is crazy.

“Lila!” Marinette was only able to stare in horror as Lila lay at the bottom of the stairs crying. That dramatic fool is lucky she didn’t break her neck doing that.

“What’s going on out here?” Mr. Damocles rushed out of his office.

“Marinette pushed me down the stairs!” Lila sobbed.

“I didn’t--”

“Marinette, in my office!” Mr. Damocles snapped. Some of the students in the other classrooms poked their heads out to see what was happening. “Someone please help Lila to the nurses office.”

Marinette wanted to scream and shout but knew it would only add to the fire. Without any other option Marinette entered the principal’s office and sat down. It was a long time of Marinette’s parents being called in and Marinette trying to explain her side of the story. She hadn’t pushed Lila down the stairs!

Mr. Damocles pulled up the security footage. It wasn’t the best quality but what it did show was Marinette and Lila at the top of the stairs. They were visibly arguing before Lila went tumbling down. Marinette’s arms were outstretched in an attempt that she knew was trying to grab her but looked an awful like she was pushing her.

Could this day get any worse?

Lila limped into the office and sat down. She had a couple scrapes and bruises on her arms and knees but besides that she looked perfectly fine.

“I don't know why Marinette doesn't like me! I've really tried to be her friend, but she keeps calling me a liar, getting the others to gang up against me, and now, she's pushing me down the stairs?” Lila sniffled, “I even have reason to believe she stole a necklace I got from my grandmother.”

“What reason?” Marinette snapped, “What reason would I have to steal your necklace?”

“I know Alya is a very big fan of Rena Rouge and her birthday is coming up so I wouldn’t put it past you to take it. It is a fox pendant after all.”

“I am a designer! I could make her a fox pendant! I could make her an entire Rena Rouge cosplay if I wanted to! So then why would I go to the trouble to steal a necklace from you when I could make one myself?”

“Authenticity?”

“You little--”

“My daughter is not a thief!” Her dad placed a reassuring hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

“I for one don’t see why should we believe any of this. You're accusing her without any proof!” her mom said this time.

“Then you shouldn’t object to a search of your locker!” Lila snapped back at Marinette.

“Enough!” Mr. Damocles stood up. “We are getting to the bottom of this right now.”

Everyone filtered out of the office and went downstairs to the lockers. There were other students around now that made Marinette even more anxious.

“Open your locker, please.” Mr. Damocles said.

Marinette stood in front of her locker with a lump in her throat. She really didn’t want to open it. She knew that Lila somehow stashed the necklace in there. When it was found then no one would believe her no matter what she said.

With a deep breath Marinette opened the locker and the pendant dropped onto the floor.

“My grandma's pendant!” Lila scooped up the necklace and cradled it close. She looked back at Marinette and the others with tear filled eyes. “I so wanted to believe in you, Marinette.”

“I could say the same thing.” Marinette seethed.

It was the sound of Marinette’s mom sobbing that broke her. She couldn’t maintain anymore.

“I have had it!” She yelled barely fighting back tears of her own, “She's making up this whole thing! It wasn't me! I didn't do anything, I swear!”

Her eyes searched the crowd for someone who believed her. Adrien had pushed through to her side. “Marinette,”

“You know Lila's lying, don't you, Adrien?” she asked. Her voice quieter as her rage was replaced with sorrow.

“I know.” He brushed her tears away, “Mr. Damocles, I don’t think--”

“Adrien, I know you want to defend your girlfriend but the facts are irrefutable. Marinette, you have acted violently towards your peer, have violated the school’s code of conduct by stealing from your peers and teacher, as well as cheating on your exam. You are hereby expelled from this school and a formal due process before the school board will be arranged.”

“But--but--” Marinette curled into Adrien.

“Mr. Damocles, this a horrible mistake! Marinette shouldn’t be expelled!” Adrien argued. “This evidence is circumstantial at best.”

“Come on,” Her dad guided her and her mom towards the door, “Let’s get out of this wretched place.”

“Marinette! NO!” Adrien screamed.

A cold feeling washed over Marinette. A voice echoing in her head like a demon. _“Princess Justice, I am Scarlet Moth. Since the innocent isn't to be believed anymore, I'm giving you the power to expose the truth. In return, you will bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous.”_

The miraculous…all she had to do was give him the miraculous.

Marinette reached for her earrings.

Then just as quickly the cold feeling was gone replaced by Adrien holding her tightly. “What...what happened?”

“There were a bunch of akumas. But they vanished almost instantly.” Adrien looked like he was about to keel over, “That is the second time this month you have almost been akumatized. I think I am going to puke.”

“Calm down. Please don’t puke.” Marinette hugged him back. “I’m the one that should be freaking out here.”

“I know. I just...Chat Blanc flashback.”

“Marinette,” Her dad said, “We need to go.”

“I’ll talk to you later,” Marinette told Adrien.

Adrien kissed her forehead. “Stay safe.”

Marinette went home with her parents bordering her like her own personal body guards. Once she was in the house she ran to shut herself in her room. When she had calmed down enough she checked her phone. There were a few texts from Adrien that made her smile and a buttload of texts and missed calls from Alya. Well she knew who she was gonna have to call back.

“Finally!” Alya answered on the first ring, “I have been trying to get ahold of you since you left.”

“Damage control for the stressed out mind.” Marinette told her, “What’s up?”

“What is up is that I am going to prove your innocence and get you back in class. I know you girl, I know that you didn’t cheat and I know you wouldn’t have pushed Lila down the stairs. As for stealing her necklace that is a little up in the air but only because you have a proclivity for palming people’s phones.”

“I didn’t steal her stupid necklace!”

“And I believe you!”

“So what are you gonna do?”

“Girl, I have already done it. Well, sorta. I tried to get fingerprints off your locker but the janitor had already cleaned it. I interviewed Lila. I looked at the surveillance footage of you allegedly pushing her down the stairs.”

“How have you done all that in the past two hours?”

“I skipped lunch. We don’t have a lot of evidence to support you though. The video is not great which since this is a well funded school doesn’t make sense. There are a lot of high profile peeps attending you’d think they’d want to update the security system.”

“Alya, focus.”

“Sorry. The footage doesn’t look good but Lila was standing very close to the stairs so it could be that she fell on her own. No one saw you steal the necklace but no one saw it being planted either. Same for the exam answers.”

“Peachy.”

“It isn’t the end of the world. I know for a fact that you have been studying your butt off for that test and anyone in our study group would attest to it. Two, I know Lila annoys you but you are not a violent person. And three, you have no motive to steal her necklace outside of said annoyance. If you really wanted a fox pendant you could just make one.”

“That’s what I said!”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head over this. You chill at home and keep under the radar and I’ll keep looking for evidence. Love ya, stay out of trouble.”

“I endeavor to. Love you too and good luck.” Marinette hung up.

Worst day ever!

At least Alya was helping her. It was just so frustrating to be stuck at home unable to do anything. She got comfy and pulled up her laptop to binge some old episodes of Code Lyoko to distract her troubled mind.


	12. Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien out here being a good boyfriend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/189776682511/for-better-or-worse-12

“Adrien,” Plagg said from the bed, “If you keep pacing you’ll carve a rut in the floor.”

“I’m thinking.” Adrien said, “Pacing helps me think.”

“You’re worrying over nothing.”

“Marinette is going to be expelled from school! I don’t think that’s nothing!”

“She won’t be expelled.”

“You don’t know that. Unless I find a way to expose Lila then nothing will change.” Adrien finally stopped pacing and flopped himself on his couch, “I can’t believe I let this happen. Lila had been far too quiet when Marinette and I started dating. She’s probably been planning this for weeks. Marinette as well as half the class almost got akumatized because of the havoc she caused. I need to do something! I need to reel her in somehow.”

Last night he had talked with Marinette for a long time about what happened. She informed him of Lila’s involvement in exposing their relationship and the death threat flowers as well. She was still shaken and upset but informed him about Alya’s investigation. He asked her if there was anything he could do to help. But...

“I don’t think I want you getting involved.” Marinette told him. “We both know how temperamental your dad can be when it comes to influence from your peers. If he thinks you dating me is not good for you then he could keep us from seeing each other. Heck, the man might pull you out of school altogether. I don’t want that.”

“But I can’t sit on the sidelines either! I know Lila is lying about all of this. We just need a way to prove it so she finally stops.” Adrien argued.

“I don’t like it either but the situation has gotten very complicated. I have some time before the hearing with the school board so I need to start on a defense for why I shouldn’t be expelled. Failing that I’m going to have to search for a new school to attend.”

“This sucks.”

“You’re telling me.” Marinette sighed. “I have to go to bed now. Mom and dad are having me help in the bakery while we try to sort this out so I gotta be up bright and early.”

“Okay, I’ll let you get your beauty sleep.” Adrien yawned, “Goodnight, doodle bug. Sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams, sunshine.”

The next day at school was horrible. The spot where Marinette should have been empty and mocking him. Everyone was talking about yesterday too. Lila came in wrapped in bandages and wincing at every little thing. She had taken quite a tumble down the stairs but he refused to believe she was in such horrible pain she needed all that dressing. Wouldn’t it have been mainly bruises anyway? Why did she need bandages outside of gaining sympathy points.

A fire lit in his stomach. Adrien knew Marinette wanted him to stay out of it but Lila had gone too far. She hurt Marinette. She set out to hurt his girlfriend. Things have been an uphill battle with their relationship because of Lila. Was she even aware of how much destruction she was responsible for?

He was ending this now.

His phone pinged. Akuma alert.

The news footage started playing. “This is Nadja Chamack, live from the Arc de Triomphe, where Ladybug is battling against a new supervillain.”

“I am Mayura, and I'm about to annihilate Ladybug.” Mayura boasted to the camera with an evil cackle.

Guess confronting Lila was gonna have to wait. Adrien ran into the nearest empty classroom and transformed. He slipped out the window and made his way to the battle.

“Chat Noir to the rescue, milady!” Adrien touched down on the Arc de Triomphe minutes later.

“Ah!” Ladybug gave a pained yell and fell to the ground.

“No!” Adrien rushed to his injured partner. “Are you okay?”

“Don't worry about me. Go after Mayura.” she tried to sit up and winced, “Ow! Chat Noir, I don’t feel so good…”

“There's something wrong, we're supposed to be nearly invincible.” Adrien tried to hold her gently. “I have to find help or--”

“Chat, don’t leave me.” she whimpered.

“You need help! I don’t know. Maybe if we get you to a hospital.”

“No. Please. Just stay here with me.” She urged him closer. “I need to tell you something just in case.”

“Don’t talk like that. You’re gonna be fine.”

“Chat Noir, please, listen,” She cupped his hand, “I've always gone out of my way to hide my true feelings for you, but I just can't do it anymore.”

“What? I don’t...huh?” What was Ladybug talking about?

“After all this time, I've realized that you're always here for me, even when I keep rejecting you. Your feelings haven't changed, and mine are growing stronger every day. I can't pretend anymore.” Ladybug’s face drew closer.

Adrien dropped her onto the floor. “You’re not Ladybug.”

“What? What do you mean--”

“I have a girlfriend.” he stated, “The real Ladybug knows this and would never try to disrupt my happy relationship by confessing.”

“Good to know you can spot the real from the fake.” The real Ladybug landed on the roof, “How are things with your girlfriend going anyway?”

“Great. Hit a few bumps in the road but we’re working through them.”

“That’s great to hear.”

“Hey!” Fakey Ladybug shouted at them, “Don’t act like I’m not here!”

“Is she an akuma?” Adrien asked Ladybug.

“No. Mayura was here. It has to be a sentimonster.”

“Fine.” Mayura emerged from her hiding place. “It would have worked had it not been for Chat Noir not falling for my perfect little Ladybug.”

“You jerks can’t use my crush on Ladybug against me anymore! HAHA!” Adrien whooped. “I got an adorable, talented, hot tamale of a girlfriend now!”

“Did you just call your girlfriend a hot tamale? Have some class, Chat Noir.” Ladybug rolled her eyes.

“Sorry. Got caught up in the moment.”

“Clearly.”

“I’ve had enough of this,” Mayura snapped, “Senti-Ladybug, steal their miraculous at any cost! Don’t hold back!”

“Senti-charm!” the Fakey Ladybug threw her yo-yo to the sky. A giant blaster dropped into her hands.

“I’ll show you a real, Lucky Charm!” Ladybug did the same thing and into her waiting hands dropped a...fork.

Adrien snorted.

“Shut up, Chat.” Fakey Ladybug started firing at them. Adrien and Ladybug jumped out of the way to avoid her.

“Got a plan?” Adrien asked.

“Working on it. I need to figure out where the amok is first.” Ladybug said.

“Mayura has an Eiffel Tower keychain in her hand. Possible it could be in there?”

“Seems a good a lead as any. Also look, Mayura looks exhausted. This is our chance to bring her down. And find out who's behind the mask.” They dodged again. Ladybug stopped and picked up a glass pane. “You’re gonna want to cover your ears.”

Adrien covered his ears in time for Ladybug to drag the fork across the glass. Just seeing her do it was setting his hair on end. Mayura dropped the keychain to cover her ears and Ladybug scooped it up.

Adrien waited for her to break it but she didn’t. “What’s wrong?”

Ladybug stared at Fakey Ladybug. “There's nothing monstrous about her. Whoever possesses this controls the sentimonster. She couldn't help but follow orders.” She dropped the keychain into Fakey Ladybug’s hands, “Sentimonster, you're free now. I won't give you orders, but I ask you, help us grab Mayura's miraculous.”

“Thank you, Ladybug. I will help you.” Fakey smiled.

“Yes! New team name! I nominate we call ourselves Chat Noir and his Ladybugs!” Adrien cheered.

“I prefer the Bugettes and Kitty Cat. What do you think?” Ladybug asked Fakey.

“You’re in charge, Ladybug.” Fakey saluted.

“I should have known. I envisioned being double teamed but not like this.” Adrien grumbled.

“CHAT!” Both Ladybugs gaped at him. “Have some class, please! Do you talk to your girlfriend like this?”

“Again, sorry, it just slipped out.”

The trio were about to charge on Mayura when Mayura did the worst and pulled the amok from the charm. The fake Ladybug disappeared. Adrien knew it shouldn’t have been a big deal. She was just a sentimonster but seeing her crumble away like that...it wasn’t right!

“How could you!” Adrien charged. Before he could get to Mayura, Hawkmoth himself dropped in and kicked him away. “I am tired of this abuse!”

There was no time for quick quips. Adrien’s eyes narrowed. All he could see when he looked at Hawkmoth was destruction. Marinette’s cries echoing in his head. All this man had done was hurt people. Today it was going to end.

They attacked and attacked but Hawkmoth stayed just one step ahead. That was until Ladybug got a hold of Mayura. It looked like they had the upper hand at last but then Hawkmoth grabbed Adrien. Adrien powered up his miraculous to buy them time but it wasn’t much. Ladybug was gonna detransform soon and so would Adrien in five minutes.

They had to do something. Adrien’s mind flashed back to the footage he had watched of himself as Chat Blanc. An idea popped into his head but it was crazy. If it worked though it could save them. If it didn’t then he would look very foolish.

“Hey Hawkmoth.” Adrien looked up at his captor. “Y’know you really shouldn’t have akumatized me.”

“And why is that?”

“It gave me ideas.”

“What are you going on about?” Hawkmoth snapped at him.

“Just this.” Adrien smirked, “Black Storm!”

An eruption of black destructive energy shot from his hand and into the sky. The feeling was insane. Like a crack of lightning had been brewing in his gut and zapped it's way through his blood and out his hand. It was far more powerful then anything he had ever produced before. Hawkmoth dropped him to get out of the way of the blast. Adrien tried to get to his feet but the surge of energy had winded him far worse than he had thought. His whole right side buzzed and tingled uncomfortably.

While he was indeed free it seemed that his new power hadn’t worked out exactly as he had hoped. It was big but it was also uncontrollable and had blasted in every which direction. Ladybug dropped Mayura in her rush to cover from the blast. When the storm cleared Mayura and Hawkmoth were gone.

“Chat Noir!” Ladybug ran to him. “Are you okay? What was that? How did you do that?”

“I’m fine. That storm took a lot out of me.” He rested back against the ground. “I’m gonna puke.”

“You’re not gonna puke.” Ladybug smoothed out his hair. Her earrings beeped. “Chat Noir, I gotta--”

“Go. I’ll be fine.” Adrien stood up to prove his point.

“We will resume this conversation at patrol.” Ladybug told him. She sent the fork back to the sky to initiate the miraculous cure before zipping off to places unknown.

Adrien dragged himself home and collapsed in his bed.

“Um, Adrien,” Plagg came back to him a couple minutes later after he had some cheese.

“Yeah?” Adrien asked, his voice muffled by the pillow.

“It’s too early for you to be home. You still have like three hours of classes to get back to.”

“Son of a--!”

Adrien tried to talk himself into staying home to rest but the guilt of skipping class won out and he snuck back out. Nino asked where he had gone and Adrien made up some sort of lie about a long phone call.

He really didn’t want to be here now. He was tired not just from the akuma attack but emotionally as well. He had been manipulated and beaten up once again. His girlfriend was facing expulsion for things she didn’t do. Lila was hurting people he cared about. He had to keep all of this to himself because no one would believe him if he said Lila was responsible. He desperately wanted to go to therapy but he was terrified that if he mentioned it to his father then he would blame it all on his friends and pull him out of school. And to top it all off he was wearing junky socks that kept slipping down into his shoes and it was really annoying.

With no one to vent to since he was still in class he went to the next best thing. Months ago he looked up ways to cope with stress and one of the tips was to keep a journal to write out his feelings that way it wasn’t all in his head. It was pretty good at calming him down. He just had to keep it hidden because if anyone ever saw it they would probably figure out he was Chat Noir. He never directly referred to himself as Chat Noir but anyone with two brain cells would be able to put it together. He sat down in a far corner of the library and got to writing.

He started out venting his frustration about the mess with Marinette and Lila and the latest akuma attack. Once that was out of his system he started about other things. Like how he had been able to change his power earlier today.

The new power had shocked him a great deal. He really wasn’t expecting it to work. But now he had a new power! Hopefully. There was really no way he could tell if it was a one time thing. He could find an abandoned building to test it out in, when he got the chance.

Maybe this meant he was getting stronger. Hawkmoth had once said that Chat Noir and Ladybug were still so young in their power. What if this was growth? What if he could prolong his detransformation or keep from de-transforming after using his power altogether? It could change so much!

He’d have to talk it over with Ladybug though. Maybe look into getting her some new powers too!

He put his journal away and went through the rest of his classes before being carted off to his after school photoshoot.

This day really wouldn’t end. He just wanted to go home and nap.

“Just get through this shoot, Adrien.” he told himself, “A couple photos and then your bed awaits.”

When he got to the set though he realized the exact hell he was in for. Lila was here. What did she want?

“Adrien!” Lila waved him over.

“Lila.” Adrien sighed, “Why are you here?”

Giuseppe the photographer cut in, “Do you know each other? Oh my,” he wrapped an arm around Lila’s shoulders, “your papa's new muse is incredible! She's been all around the world, she knows all the celebrities, and she's Italian, just like me!”

Adrien wanted to say that if she was really Italian then why didn’t she have even a hint of an Italian accent, but kept it to himself. There were bigger issues to confront.

“Isn’t this great?” Lila gushed, “You're gonna have to give me tons of tips, because I'm not as experienced as you are.”

“My father’s new muse?” Adrien said, “I wasn’t even aware that you were talking to my father.”

“Oh that, I’ve had a few brief meetings with him since I met him that day we hung out at your house. The last time we talked he said he had to have me as one of his models. How could I say no?”

Father...what has Adrien done? Isn’t he a good child? He does well in school. He eats all his veggies. Did you have to pick Lila out of all people? Why not Juleka? She really wants to be a model! Adrien would rather be modeling with Chloe right now!

Cool down. Deep breath. Bigger issues need addressing.

“Would you mind leaving us alone for a second?” Adrien asked Giuseppe.

“Sure.” Giuseppe and the make-up artist left them.

Adrien stepped in front of where Lila was sitting and stared her down until her smile melted away.

“Something wrong?” Lila asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

“I warned you once already, Lila, but you didn't listen.” Adrien put as much ice into his words as he could, “You hurt my girlfriend, and that's not okay.”

“Me? Hurting Marinette? But she's the one who--”

“I don't know how to prove you lied, Lila, because you're good at it. So you'll just have to come up with another lie, just as convincing. Only this time it's gonna prove Marinette's innocence.” Adrien was seething.

“Why would I do that, Adrien?” Lila challenged.

“Because we're friends, aren't we?”

“I’d like it if we were more than friends.” Lila stood up, getting uncomfortably close to him and running a hand through his hair.

“Friends only.” Adrien smacked her hand away. “Take it or leave it.”

“And why not? I’m pretty, talented and your father obviously approves of me more than he does her. Are you gonna tell me that you actually love that wannabe designer?”

Adrien didn’t answer.

“Disappointing, but fine.” Lila spat, “She’ll be back in school by the end of the week.”

“Good.”

The photographer came back and Adrien put on a happy face for the camera. _I’m doing this for Marinette. I’m doing this for Marinette._


	13. Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is gonna start a fight one way or another

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/189824806211/for-better-or-worse-13

“Sweetie, make sure you’re getting inside the entirety of the mold.” Marinette’s dad told her. After she had finished her Ladybug thing she was back in the bakery. Right now her dad was showing her how to make caneles.

“I am.” Marinette sighed as she finished greasing another mold. “I thought maybe you’d have me mixing stuff instead of this prep work.”

“Prep work is just as essential as mixing.” Her dad said.

It was menial work but it kept her mind free for other things. Mainly that crazy power surge Chat Noir let off during the battle! Holy crap! The last time she had seen him do something like that was when he was Chat Blanc. The power both amazed and terrified her. If Chat Noir was getting stronger that was great! But seeing that much untamed destruction flow from him reminded her too much of when he was akumatized. It was frightening.

She wasn’t sure Chat understood exactly how massive his Black Storm was. It was like a tornado had launched from his hand. She’d talk to him about it during patrol.

After her work was done in the bakery she went up to her room and started on her defense for the school. She was arranging to take a re-test of the exam to prove her grade wasn’t a hoax and with some luck that would help prove her innocence. As for the pushing down the stairs and theft of the necklace that was going to rely more on her reputation and testimonies of her classmates. Adrien and Alya were definitely on her side and Alya was working on getting statements from their classmates to defend her. No one wanted to see Marinette expelled.

The multiple almost akumatization didn’t help matters but that could be more chalked up to emotions in the moment and not definite opinion.

Marinette was feeling really good about this.

The next day when she was called back to the school Marinette was prepared. She brought her defense but was surprised when she arrived at the principal’s office and the only other person there was Lila. Marinette looked to her parents who shrugged. That was comforting.

Marinette sat down. “What is going on?” she asked. “I thought this was my hearing before the school board.”

“Lila asked that we have this meeting. She said it was of great urgence.” Mr. Damocles said.

Oh no. What was Lila going to do now?

“It is of great urgence, Mr. Damocles.” Lila put on her most pitiable face. “I am here to ask that you do not expel Marinette from school.”

“Huh?” Marinette was visibly taken aback.

“I have had some time to think since that horrible day and I realized I was wrong about Marinette.” Lila said, “When we were heading to your office we did get in a little spat about her blaming me for planting the test answers in her bag but I don’t believe she pushed me. I was near the stairs and I think I just fell but Marinette was right there and I was in so much pain that I blamed her.”

“I see,” Mr. Damocles nodded, “And the necklace? It was found in Marinette’s locker.”

“And my locker is just two down from hers. I think I may have accidentally tossed it into hers when I was running late for class one day. Then when I saw it resting on the top shelf the next day my brain automatically assumed she stole it.” Lila looked at Marinette now. “I’m sorry I blamed you for my mistakes.”

“I…” Marinette was shocked. She knew Lila was lying but, why? Why was she helping her come back to school?

“I understand if you wouldn’t want to forgive me,” Lila wiped away a nonexistent tear, “I made life so much more stressful for you and I am truly sorry. You don’t have to forgive me but I just couldn’t live with myself if I let our very own everyday Ladybug be expelled.”

“Lila that is very touching.” Mr. Damocles sniffled, “Marinette, you of course will be allowed to attend classes again tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” Marinette looked at Lila, “And Lila I...I forgive you?”

“That’s great!” Lila squealed. “Then everything is better!”

“Marinette, we just need you to sign a few things. Lila, you are free to go now.” Mr. Damocles said.

“Bye. Can’t wait to have you back in class, Marinette!” Lila strutted out of the room.

Marinette had no idea what just happened but she wasn’t expelled anymore so she was going to take it and think about the implications later. After a few documents and a talk with her parents they headed back to the bakery.

She first texted Alya to tell her that she could stop the investigation since Marinette was being allowed back to school. She then texted Adrien to ask if he had any idea why Lila had lied to get her back into the school.

Adrien texted her back almost instantly.

_I do know but you can’t be mad at me_

That was not comforting.

_Adrien what did you do???_

_I made a deal with devil_

_Sunshine, if you want fresh croissants tomorrow you’re gonna start making sense_

_I made a deal with Lila to get you un-expelled. Please bring croissants!_

Okay. This was no longer text news. Time to make a call.

“Hey, doodle bug, what’s up?” Adrien answered.

“Adrien, what kind of deal did you make with Lila?”

“I may have promised to act like her close friend in return for your acceptance back into the school. It seems she kept good on that.” Adrien’s half-hearted laugh died in his throat. “Are you mad?”

“Mad? No. Of course not. You scared me. I thought you made some kind of deal that endangered you.”

“Endanger me how?”

“I don’t know. She could have asked anything of you and your dumb, adorable, selfless self would have done it.”

“That’s...true. It could be worse though. She tried to twist it so that I would dump you and date her but I shot that down real quick.”

“She really is the worst. But good to know that you were able to strike a deal without that concession. What made her accept just friendship?”

“Oh, I may have said uh--well I didn’t say anything, she said...and I didn’t deny what she said so--it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you aren’t expelled and we can continue dating and everything will sort itself out.”

“There’s something else you’re not telling me, is there?”

“Okay. Apparently my father decided that Lila was his new muse so she’s now my co-worker on photoshoots.”

“Say what?”

“It’s not great but I can handle this. I’m probably making it sound a lot worse than it is.”

“Adrien, it’s me, if you’re pissed you can say so. Hearing that you’re stuck with her during school and at photoshoots angers me too.”

Adrien sighed, “I am angry. I’m angry at Lila for lying and at our class for believing her and at myself for not doing anything sooner. If I had said something then none of this would have happened.”

“What did I say about blaming yourself for everything?” Marinette wished she was with him, “This isn’t your fault. We both know that Lila is a good manipulator. If we tried to expose her to the class with no proof then it would just create more problems.”

“We could get proof though! We both know she doesn’t actually know Jagged Stone. We could call him and expose her lie right now.”

“Until she comes up with another convoluted lie that gets her out of trouble and gains even more admiration. If we want to expose her it has to be full proof. We need evidence that she can absolutely not lie her way out of.”

“That’s not gonna be easy.”

“I know. We’re gonna have to keep this under the radar. The second she thinks that we’re trying to out her is the moment all our plans go out the door. So for now we’ll lie low and go along with this stupid narrative she’s created. Her lies cannot last forever.”

“How are we gonna amass any proof?”

“Don’t know. We’ll find a way.” Marinette assured him.

“While I have you would it be too much to ask you to come to my next photoshoot? I really don’t want to be alone with Lila.” Adrien asked, sheepishly.

“Of course I will." Marinette chuckled, “You know, this reminds me of...nevermind.”

“What?”

Now was a good a time as any to reveal this tiny secret to her boyfriend. “It’s just, do you remember when your dad got akumatized over that missing book?”

“Yeah. That’s not exactly something you forget.”

“Well, I may have been the one to return it.”

“You stole my book?”

“No! It was Lila that stole the book!” Marinette defended, “I may have also been spying on you two and followed you to the park where I saw Lila throw the book in the trash. I fished it out of the garbage can and I was gonna return it to you to start a conversation. Then your dad pulled you out of school so I acted like I stole it and returned it to him so he would let you come back to class.”

“Really?”

“Yep. You don’t find it weird that I was spying on you?”

“Marinette, you had a big fat crush on me to the point where you almost kissed, what you thought, was a wax statue of me.” Adrien reminded her, “You spying on a conversation I was having with another girl that was obviously interested in me doesn’t seem that far-fetched.”

“You had to bring up the wax museum didn’t you?” Marinette’s face was red hot.

“It’s where our whole relationship started. It was cute and look where it led? We’re dating! Good memories only.”

“Why do I feel like this is going to be part of a really embarrassing wedding toast one day?” Marinette muttered.

“Did you say wedding?”

Crap, did I say that out loud!

“Oops, my dad is calling me back to the bakery. I better go before we burn the baguettes. See you tomorrow! Bye!” Marinette hung up.

“I think that went well.” Marinette looked to Tikki. “Right?”

“Oh Marinette…” Tikki shook her head.

\---

Marinette was ready for her first day back at school after almost being expelled. She was a little worried about how the class would react to seeing her. Sure Lila’s lies proved her innocent and she aced the re-test so there was no reason to be worried but Lila’s lies also painted Lila as a humble class hero. Now that Adrien had to act like her friend it was only going to add fuel to the fire.

But like a good girlfriend that wanted to make this easier on her boyfriend for his sacrifice she packed a bag of his favorite goodies. She may have also worn his hoodie to school since he liked how she looked in it. It would also piss Lila off to no end.

She waited out on the steps for him to show up for school and skipped down to greet him when his car pulled up. “Good morning sunshine,” she gave him a good morning kiss, “Sleep well?”

“Good morning, doodle bug,” he kissed her back, “Is that my hoodie?”

“Yes.” She held up the bag, “I also have fresh baked treats.”

“Thanks,” they walked into class together, “Is this because of the Lila thing?”

“Think of it as a thank you for doing what you did. I know you didn’t have to and I appreciate you doing it.”

“Of course I had to. I wasn’t gonna let her get away with getting you expelled.” he opened the bag and pulled out a macaron, “Are these passionfruit?”

“Yepper!”

“I want a giant one of these for the wedding cake.”

“The what?” Marinette’s heart missed a beat.

“Yesterday you were talking about our inevitable embarrassing wedding toasts and I just thought--”

“Oh that?” Marinette forced a laugh, “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant in a hypothetical wedding. Not that we would actually get married or anything.”

Adrien stared at her with the saddest puppy dog eyes, “Are you saying you don’t want to marry me?”

“I didn’t--that is not--what I meant was--” Marinette was stammering again, “It’s not like you want to marry me...do you want to marry me?”

“Yes--I mean, yeah, I um...” This time it was Adrien that was tripping over his words. “I don’t really have any objections to that idea. Hypothetically speaking?”

“Yeah...hypothetically. We’re only fifteen and barely a month into this relationship we don’t need to be bringing up marriage.”

“Right!”

They sat down at their desks.

Alya leaned over towards them, “Did I hear you two talking about a wedding? Adrien, did something happen this morning that I should know of?”

“Alya!” Marinette flipped the hood up so no one could see her beet red face.

“I call best man!” Nino joined in.

“Stooooooop!” Adrien hid his face behind his book.

“Hi, everyone,” Lila walked into class and Marinette tried not to scowl outright.

“Adrien, your face is redder than a tomato,” Lila sat down on the corner of his desk, “What are they embarrassing you with today?”

“We overheard him and Marinette making wedding plans and they got shy.”

“We weren’t planning anything!” Marinette moaned.

“Oh, that’s adorable!” Lila’s voice had pitched an octave. “I had better be a bridesmaid, Marinette.”

What in the world was she doing? Marinette looked at Lila who was positively dripping with excessive false cheer.

The rest of the class seemed to notice too. Lila looked around questioningly. “Oh, I get it, everyone is a little confused after Marinette and I’s situation a couple days ago. After everything was cleared up it actually brought Marinette and I closer together. So Alya, you might have some competition for that Maid of Honor position.”

“Is that so?” Alya looked between Marinette and Alya hopefully. “That’s great to hear. Also, there is no competition, I called Maid of Honor way before they ever started dating.”

“Alya!” Marinette wanted to crawl in a hole and die for numerous reasons.

“Only one way to decide,” Alix stood on her seat, “A fight to the death for the right to be Marinette’s Maid of Honor at her and Adrien’s wedding!”

“YEAH!” The class cheered.

“Everyone settle down!” Ms. Bustier entered the class, “Alix, you’re meant to be sitting in your seat, not standing on it.”

“How else is she supposed to see the board?” Kim teased.

“How are you supposed to see the board with two black eyes, Kim?” Alix shot back.

“I don’t have two black eyes, shorty.”

“You will!”

“Children, settle,” Ms. Bustier warned them again. “Thank you. Now let’s proceed with the lesson we have a lot to cover.”

Classes went on and in between Marinette became increasingly confused by Lila’s sudden friendliness. She knew it was all an act but why was she so insistent on it now? It only occurred to Marinette as she was packing up her bag for the day that Adrien’s deal didn’t just affect him. Marinette, as Adrien’s supportive girlfriend that now owed her continued enrollment at Dupont to Lila’s humble pleas, had to act as her friend too.

“Hey,” Adrien tapped her shoulder, “Are you okay? You’re really quiet.”

“I have to pretend to be Lila’s friend too, don’t I?”

Adrien looked away, “I mean she’s already sown the seeds.”

“No!” Marinette collapsed back against him, “I don’t wanna act like I like her!”

“I know but there’s not a whole lot we can do about it right now. We haven’t started our investigation yet.” Adrien reminded her.

“I know. It still sucks.” They walked outside to Adrien’s car. Marinette slid in first. At least they could finally have some time alone between school and the photoshoot. As short lived as it would be.

“Adrien!” Lila ran up to the car, “Are you heading to the photoshoot?”

“Yeah.” Adrien turned to her.

“Would you mind if I got a ride with you?”

“Of course not.” Adrien forced a smile and slid into the car beside Marinette. So much for their limited alone time.

“Oh, Marinette,” Lila looked taken aback, “I didn’t know you were here. Is Adrien giving you a lift home?”

“I’m going to the shoot to support him.” Marinette replied flatly.

“Is that allowed? Adrien, maybe you should ask your dad.” Lila put a hand on Adrien’s shoulder.

“She’s allowed.” Adrien shrugged her off.

“Are you sure, though? I don’t want you to get in trouble--”

“Lila, it’s just us. You don’t have to pretend to be nice.” Marinette snapped.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Lila narrowed her eyes.

“It means I know that Adrien made a deal with you to get me to come back to school.”

“You told her?” Lila asked Adrien.

“Why would I keep information like that from my girlfriend? She’s the whole reason I agreed to it.” Adrien sighed. Marinette felt bad for her sweet boyfriend.

“I thought it would be our little secret.” Again Lila invaded his personal space and touched her finger to his lips.

There is going to be a murder in this car.

Adrien calmly pushed her back into her own seat, “I have no secrets from Marinette.”

“You sure about that?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Marinette said.

“You really think he’s completely honest with you? No one is honest all the time. Not even you little miss goodie goodie.” Lila scoffed.

“You know what, Lila!” Marinette was about ready to launch across Adrien and pull those stupid sausage tails off the side of her head.

“Calm down, doodle bug,” Adrien eased her back into her seat, “Don’t let her push your buttons.”

Lila made a retching sound, “You even have nauseatingly adorable nicknames for each other. How juvenile.”

“Jealous much?” Marinette wrapped one of Adrien’s arms around her in triumph.

“Annoying much?” Lila mocked her.

“You are so lucky I am not a violent person.”

“What could you possibly do to me with those little noodle arms?”

“You wanna find out?”

“Hey, look, we’re at the set! Let’s go!” Adrien pushed himself and Marinette out of the nearest door. “Marinette,”

“I know but she makes it so difficult.” Marinette whined. “But I am mature. I am calm. I can handle Lila.”

“That’s my girl,” Adrien smiled, “Now can I have a smile?”

“Mmm,” Marinette didn’t know if she was in the mood for smiling.

“A little smile.” he kissed her cheek, “Just one tiny smile?” He continued to leave face smushing kisses all over her face.

“Quit it, dork!” Marinette laughed.

“There’s that beautiful smile,” Adrien grabbed her hand, “We’ll get through this.”

They got them changed and made up with the outfits they would be modeling today. Adrien looked great and the outfits were amazing. Too bad Lila’s face had to spoil it.

Marinette watched from the sidelines as Adrien and Lila posed. She was really trying to not show how annoyed she was at how shamelessly Lila hung off Adrien for every picture. He was obviously uncomfortable with her touching him so familiarly but hell if she cared.

“Adrien,” the photographer sighed, “Relax, you are so stiff today.”

“Sorry, Giuseppe,” Adrien tried a different pose but even Marinette could tell that he was rigid and his face tight with the same hollow smile.

“C’mon, signore, you are supposed to be happy.” Giuseppe said again. “Think of mama with the spaghetti.”

Marinette got an idea and went to stand a little behind the photographer. Adrien saw her and Marinette blew him a quick kiss. His expression lightened.

“There, that’s a little better,” Giuseppe took another rapid series of photos.

Marinette continued to make funny faces behind the photographer so Adrien’s smile and body language would come more naturally. It seemed as relaxed Adrien got though, Lila became more agitated. Almost like she didn’t like that Marinette was the one making her boyfriend happy and not her. Strange how that works out.

Soon the pairing shoot was over and Lila was shooed to take a rest while they got some solo shots of Adrien. Lila came over to stand next to Marinette.

“You know, you were really distracting,” Lila frowned, “It’s highly unprofessional.”

“It may have escaped your notice,” Marinette kept her eyes on Adrien, “But if it wasn’t for me your pictures with Adrien would have been as awkward and lifeless as posing with a cardboard cutout.”

“It won’t last.” Lila glanced at her, “This little pocket of fantasy you warped yourself into. He is way out of your league.”

“And yet I’m the one dating him and you’re the one that got his ‘friendship’ through a bargain. I think the one out of their depth here is you.”

“Keep testing me, just cause I can’t expel you doesn’t mean I can’t make you miserable in other ways.”

“I know.” Marinette turned to her fully, “But you don’t scare me. You portrayed yourself as my friend in class. That’s a two way street. So maybe before you try to get me akumatized you think of how exactly the class’s everyday Ladybug can make you look.”

“Haha,” Lila openly laughed, “There’s a devious little sneak buried deep under all that cream puff isn’t there?”

“She’s not buried as deep as you think.” Marinette warned.

Lila pulled out her phone and turned on the camera.

“I hope so, friend,” Lila linked their arms together.

Marinette turned her attention to the camera and smiled. Let the games begin.


	14. Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A perfect date of shopping, dinner, and interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/189970483031/for-better-or-worse-14

“Adrien, it is time for you to wake up.” Nathalie stepped inside Adrien’s room. Adrien looked at the time and sighed. Why was Nathalie waking him up at seven AM on a Sunday?

Adrien pulled the blanket up over his head in hopes that it would somehow deter her.

“Hiding under the covers will not work.” Nathalie said, “If you don’t get up I’ll have Gorilla come in here and do it.”

“Why?” Adrien groaned, “I don’t have school or lessons or a photoshoot this morning.”

“We need to go over your schedule for the week.”

“And this can’t wait until a more reasonable hour?”

“If you went to bed at an appropriate time like you should be you wouldn’t be so tired in the mornings.” Nathalie looked him over and sighed. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes to wake up and come down for breakfast. Don’t go back to sleep.”

Adrien waited a good five minutes after Nathalie had left the room before deciding not to try his luck and got out of bed. Last night Adrien had stayed up till four in the morning having a Dragon Rune tournament online with his friends. Ivan, who was their healer, spent a lot of his time healing their tank, Kim, who wouldn’t stop on his suicide mission of diving headlong into danger. Juleka, their witch, was covering Adrien’s bard character and Marinette’s rogue led them to victory alongside Max’s paladin. A good game and great memories but at the cost of Adrien’s sleep.

Adrien quickly threw on some clothes, splashed some water in his face to wake him up and went to get some breakfast. Nathalie was waiting in the dining room.

“Now that you’re here we can go over your schedule. Tomorrow you have school, then a fencing lesson and at least an hour of piano practice at home. Tuesday you have school, then your measurements are going to be retaken at the house, then you have a Chinese lesson. Wednesday you do have an early fencing lesson but then your afternoon is open until your dinner with Mlle. Dupain-Cheng and your father. Thursday you have--”

“Wait, a second,” Adrien interrupted her, “Did you say dinner?”

“Yes,” Nathalie swiped on her screen, “Wednesday night your father has scheduled a dinner to meet your girlfriend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng here at the house. Is that an issue?”

“No. I just didn’t realize that we were having the dinner. I thought maybe father had forgotten.”

“Of course not, he was just biding time to see if the relationship would last long enough for him to invest further interest in it.” Nathalie said, “The dinner will be at eight o’clock sharp. Appropriate wear, please no jeans or tennis shoes, and after dinner is concluded Mlle. Dupain-Cheng will be returned home promptly. You are allowed to escort her back to her house.”

“Since when is there a dress code for dinner?”

“Since your father requested.” Nathalie looked at Adrien with a sly smile and whispered, “Between you and me, I think he is tired of being the only one at meals wearing slacks.”

“Tell father he should wear some jeans then. I don’t think I’ve seen dad in a pair of jeans since I was eight.”

“Tastes change. Now as for the rest of your schedule.” Nathalie prattled on about the rest of Adrien’s schedule before leaving him be to enjoy his morning.

After breakfast he went back upstairs and turned on the TV so it sounded like he was up before crawling back into bed and napping for another two hours at least.

When he woke up and felt more like a human being he pulled up his phone and texted Marinette about their apparent dinner plans this Wednesday.

_Good morning, doodle bug! ( ^ 3 ^ )_

_Adrien, darling, do you realize how early it is?_

_It’s almost 10_

_And we were up late last night, remember?_

_Should I talk to you later?_

_Nah. I’m awake now. What’s up?_

_My father made plans for you to have dinner at my house this Wednesday_

_Oh...why?_

_He wants to properly meet you and stuff_

_Okey dokey then_

_I also have the afternoon off that day if you wanted to go out and have fun before we spend the night being interrogated over brisket_

_Ideas??_

_I just got paid for my last photoshoot so how does a small shopping spree sound?_

_I couldn’t spend your money!_

_Not even on top quality fabric?_

_Don’t tempt me_

_Or that new shoe store that opened up that I know you’ve been wanting to visit?_

_Stay away seductor!_

_Toy store with big. FAT. PLUSHIES!_

_How fat of a plushie?_

_The FATTEST of plushies_

_Ok deal_

_WOO! Shopping spree!_

_We are not going overboard!_

_Go completely overboard! Got it! ( > v o )_

_NO!_

The week pattered along at a usual rate and suddenly it was Wednesday. Since Marinette had some forewarning of her date this time she had a nice outfit planned and even did her makeup a little more than usual.

When Adrien showed up she rushed out to meet him and took off for their afternoon of window shopping. Despite Marinette’s best efforts to not let Adrien spoil her the second they got to the fabric shop those dreams died. Marinette got an allowance from her household chores and doing random tasks and babysitting and almost every cent went into sewing supplies. So when Adrien whipped out his wallet and said she could get anything she wanted she kinda did.

At first she stuck to the clearance racks and a couple essentials until Adrien dragged her off to the better more expensive fabrics. He’d pull rolls of fabric from the shelves to show her and point out certain materials he knew his father liked to use. Adrien, despite being the son and primary model for one of the biggest names in fashion at the moment, didn’t know a lot about fashion as far as construction went. He definitely knew more than the average person and tried his hardest to connect with Marinette through it with what he did know.

Once he got her started and assured her for the tenth time that yes, she can get as much of that nice fabric as she wanted, she was like a kid in a candy store. Adrien followed behind her as she pulled different rolls from the shelves and felt the material and compared one shade to the next. So many ideas and sudden waves of inspiration radiating off of her with her excitement.

“Ooh, that one is the perfect shade of silver!” Marinette pointed to a roll of star printed fabric high up on the shelf.

“I’ll grab a stool.” Adrien set down the numerous rolls of fabric he had been holding for her.

“Nah, I got it.” Marinette started to scale the shelves like a rock wall.

“Marinette!” Adrien was gonna have a heart attack. “Get down! You’re gonna hurt yourself or fall.”

“I’m fine. I do this all the time.” Marinette’s assurance was anything but.

“Just because you’re super short doesn’t mean you should be climbing shelves.”

“I am not that short!”

“Marinette,” Adrien shrugged, “Come on. I mean...come on.”

“You are such a meanie butt.” Marinette pouted. She reached the roll she wanted and proceeded to try and pull it out from the other rolls around it. She gave a final yank and the roll came free but so did Marinette who started hurtling towards the ground.

Without thinking Adrien immediately dove to catch her. He did and the momentum took him down with her when she landed in his arms. The star studded tulle unfurling and covering them. Nervous laughter bubbling from them as the danger faded away.

“I already knew you had fallen for me, doodle bug, you didn’t have to be so literal about it.” Adrien smirked.

“Oh for goodness sake,” Marinette squished his cheeks in her hands. “You are so cheesy it hurts.”

“You love it. Admit it.”

“I will admit nothing.” Marinette laughed. “But thank you for catching me. That could have ended very painfully.”

“I’ll always catch you.” Adrien pulled the tulle off of them. Marinette’s face became more clear and he could see the uncomfortable blush that now covered her face. Oops. Had he gone too far?

Deviate Agreste! “Ha ha.” he pulled their attention to the fabric surrounding them.

“What?” Marinette asked.

“Well this fabric is covered in stars and you fell so does that make you my fallen star?” he tried for a joke.

“I guess so. You should have made a wish.” Marinette laughed as she started to roll the fabric back up.

_I already have my wish._ The response waited patiently on his tongue but a nervous fear kept it there. Would that be too much? He didn’t want to freak her out with his cheesy yet sincere sentiments. Especially after his last comment embarrassed her.

They finished picking out fabrics and threads and went to pay. Their arms were loaded up with her purchases but this wasn’t their only stop. They glanced in at a few other street shops and as promised they did go to a story store in search of a fat and fluffy plush toy. They ended up buying a pair of super fluffy swan plushies that way they could each have one.

“Where to now?” Adrien asked as they left the toy store.

“How about we stop somewhere for a drink.” Marinette suggested, “All this shopping is making me thirsty.”

“Great idea, my falling star.”

“Are you going to call me that all day?”

“It’s cute.” Adrien pulled out his phone and searched for nearby cafes. “There’s one just a block over that looks nice. But we must be swift. Who knows if they’ll have room at this hour. Follow me!”

“Adrien, be careful!” Marinette yelled as Adrien Naruto ran across the street.

That’s her dork.

“Come on, Marinette!” Adrien shouted back from the otherside of the street, “Naruto it!”

“You’re so stupid!” Marinette laughed but copied him as best she could and ran across the street, “But I will admit it was kinda fun.”

“I knew I’d get ya eventually! A little more practice and you might just do it right next time.”

“Is that how it is? You better hope that dumb run is fast, Agreste.”

“Ooh, I’m Agreste now?” he laughed before she swung at him with her shopping bag, “You missed!”

“I won’t again.” she swung at him again and again he dodged out of the way. “Get back here!”

“Catch me if you can, doodle bug!” Adrien took off running down the street weaving in and out of pedestrians like the dorkiest snake in the world.

“Adrien!” How was he moving so fast while holding so much? “You are in for it when I get you, sunshine!”

Marinette tried to keep up with her rapidly dashing boyfriend. She whipped around a corner he had rounded and squealed as he caught her and lifted her up in the air. “Got ya!”

“I was the one supposed to be doing the catching.”

“But don’t you like this better?” he pressed a kiss against her cheek.

“Maybe.” her blush was hidden by her already flushed face.

“Didn’t you say I was gonna get it when you finally caught up?” he reminded her.

“Yes I did and yes you are.” She grabbed his head and pulled it down to press a kiss on his forehead. “There.”

“Well if I had known that was gonna happen I would have stopped long ago.” he chuckled but it was Marinette who had the last laugh. A bright pink lip mark was now plastered, unbeknownst to Adrien, on his forehead. Usually Marinette didn’t wear makeup outside of some eye-liner but decided that since it was a date she should use some of the makeup she’d been hoarding.

_PING!_

“That’s me,” Adrien pulled out his phone and frowned.

“Everything okay?” Marinette asked.

“Yeah, just one second, I need to make a call.” He stepped away for some privacy but Marinette could still hear his conversation.

“Nathalie, you said I had the afternoon off.” Adrien spoke quietly but harshly into the phone. “It’s been two hours. Dinner isn’t for another six.”

She really shouldn’t be eavesdropping. Marinette put a little more distance between them to give Adrien some actual privacy. It wasn’t until this moment she really started to worry about the dinner tonight. Sure she had been nervous but she hadn’t been scared to go. Hearing Adrien like this though bloomed that seed of doubt in her stomach. Should she be more worried? Mr. Agreste was a very intimidating and controlling man.

“This isn’t fair!” Adrien snapped loud enough for Marinette to hear. “I have friends that I want to spend time with. Is it so much to ask for--wait, no, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Don’t tell him!”

Oh no.

Marinette walked back to him. Her happy smiling boyfriend now stared morosely at the ground, his voice barely above a whisper. “I know. I’m sorry, Nathalie. I understand. Yes, I promise. Please don’t tell--oh...okay. Yes. Yes. No. I won’t. Thank you, Nathalie. I’ll be home soon.”

Adrien hung up. He turned back to Marinette and plastered a smile on his face. “Sorry about that. Father wants me back home before dinner so I guess we’re gonna have to cut this date short.”

“Are you alright?”

“Of course. Why?”

“I overheard a bit of your call.”

“It’s nothing to worry about. Just usual protective father antics.” Adrien was quick to wave it off.

“You sounded really upset though. I’ve told you that you don’t have to pretend around me. Remember?”

“I’m fine, Marinette.” he took her hand. “I promise.”

Marinette wrapped him in a hug. Even if he wouldn’t admit it she knew he wasn’t fine and she was going to hold him for as long as he would allow. His arms, full of shopping bags wrapped around her bumping against them like a protective barrier from the outside world. He could claim he was fine but he held her too tight for it to be true.

“We don’t need to talk. If you do not want to speak about it to me that is perfectly alright. But if you ever need a quiet moment to settle yourself, you let me know.”

“You’ll be there.” Adrien pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I know.”

Soon Adrien’s bodyguard pulled up to their location and drove Marinette home. Adrien helped her take the bags upstairs to her room. He left a kiss on her cheek and went back downstairs to go home.

She just needs to get through dinner. One dinner and then everything will be fine. Be proper. Steer clear of pet names. No PDA no matter how minor--

“Crap!” Marinette forgot to warn Adrien about the lip gloss on his face!

\---

“Adrien?” Nathalie raised an eyebrow, “What is that on your face?”

“What?” Adrien swiped at his cheeks. “Did I get it?”

Nathalie shook her head with what looked like the smallest wisp of a smile at the corner of her lips, “Just go wash your face before your father sees.”

“Okay?” Adrien didn’t know what that was about. He got to his bathroom and looked in the mirror. A bright pink lip mark sat on his forehead. Marinette, that sly devil.

It was a long, boring, and tense wait till dinner. Every worst case scenario playing in Adrien’s head as the hours ticked by. What if after tonight his father didn’t approve of Marinette? What if he said Adrien couldn’t see her anymore? Marinette and him had come so far already. He didn’t want to be forced to break up with her. He hadn’t even had a chance to kiss her.

By the time dinner was served Adrien’s anxious thoughts had completely taken over. Then Marinette entered the house. Simply but nicely dressed and a warm smile that brightened the room around her. And in that one moment Adrien’s mind finally stilled.

It’s just dinner. There’s nothing to worry about. He took Marinette’s hand and led her into the dining room and pulled up the chair next to him. The only other place setting being at the other side of the long table far from where they sat. At least Marinette was seated close to him. That gave him a little more courage when his father showed up and sat down.

After a quick and flat greeting the food was brought out and they spent the next twenty minutes in utter silence outside of the clinking of silverware against porcelain.

Adrien studied Marinette next to him and noted the distinct lack of bright pink lip gloss this time. The image of her little mark on his forehead made him smile. She caught his eye and sent him a questioning glance. A small laugh escaped him.

“What?” Marinette whispered.

“I was just thinking,” he whispered back, “You couldn’t have warned me about the little reminder you left on my forehead?”

Marinette tried to hide her guilty smile behind another bite of food.

“You can hide your smile but you can’t hide the overwhelming stench of guilt, my star.”

“Stop with the star comments!” she lightly kicked him under the table.

“Why? It’s cute.” He kicked her back.

Their moment was spoiled by the sound of a throat clearing from the other end of the table. Both of their smiles dropped as they stared at Adrien’s father.

“Yes father?” Adrien spoke first.

“Something amusing you care to share?” Even from a distance Adrien could feel the cool unflinching gaze of this father on them.

“Oh no, nothing that amusing.” Marinette said.

“Hm,” his father steepled his fingers together and rested his chin on the perch it created. “Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, you have been dating my son for about a month now. What are you hoping to get out of this relationship?”

“The only thing I am looking for is the pleasure of Adrien’s company.” Marinette answered calmly.

“And that is not already accomplished through friendship? The two of you have to be dating to be in each others company?”

“No. But the type of interaction that comes with different types of company and their opinions of said person calls for alternative choices in relationships. Adrien and I were happy spending time together as friends for months now but at a certain point opinions of one another and our decision on what our relationship should be changed. To continue to be only friends when we both wanted a more stereotypically romantic relationship would have been rather ridiculous.”

“I see.” His father’s interrogating gaze didn’t waver, “And your aspirations as a designer have nothing whatsoever to do with this sudden change?”

“Of course not.” Marinette looked offended. “I genuinely care about Adrien and want to be with him. Whether he is a model or your son does not change how I feel for him.”

Adrien reached for her hand under the table. Marinette took a deep breath and squeezed his hand back. “If you would ever think that I would use Adrien to further my own agenda then you are horribly mistaken. I would never abuse anyone, especially someone I care deeply about, like that.”

“I have offended you?” A single pale eyebrow rose on his father’s head.

“If that was a serious accusations instead of an honest question then I would be inclined to say yes.”

“Then I suppose it is a good thing that it was an honest question from a concerned father.” Mr. Agreste said. “I have seen one too many instances where my son was unjustly taken advantage of by selfish people. It is both a blessing and a curse that he received his mother’s emotionally driven sense of morality. It can cause him to be blind to people’s manipulative treatment of him.”

“Giving someone the benefit of the doubt is a vice in your opinion?”

“I think that first impressions show a person’s true colors and trying to convince someone differently is a fool’s errand. If you did not trust someone at first then you will never fully trust them later and that can cause more pain.”

“First impressions are important but I don’t believe they are set in stone. When I first met Adrien I unfairly accused him of sticking gum on my seat. If that had been our only interaction then I would not be sitting here today. Communicating with someone and getting to know them tells much more about someone then a first impression ever could.”

“So since that moment that you two met and things ended badly there has been no bad blood between you since? No moments of disagreement or residual anger or resentment?”

“That’s not a fair question. People disagree and get angry all the time with people they get along with. It’s human nature. If the question is that I hold any resentment or suspicion of Adrien because of that one incident then the answer is no because I know the truth behind the event. I trust Adrien and I hardly doubt that he’s been pretending to be one of the sweetest and most empathetic people I’ve ever met this entire time.”

“But you have not answered my question. Have you ever been angry with Adrien after that event?”

Marinette’s mind flashed back to Lila and Adrien’s unwillingness to take any active action against her at first. She had been irritated and maybe a little disappointed but things changed since then. That still left the question Mr. Agreste asked to answer though. If she said no it would be a lie. If she said yes then that would only be one half of the truth and she didn’t know if she would get a chance to explain the second half.

“The only time I can recall being angry at Adrien since then is when he scared the daylights out of me at the wax museum.” A half truth was better then no truth at all.

“Are you talking about when I pretended to be a statue?” Adrien chuckled.

“You let me pour my heart out to you without stopping. It was so embarrassing!” Some of the tension in Marinette’s shoulders released.

“And look where it led!” Adrien pulled their hands up from underneath the table. “I call this a win.”

“What am I gonna do with you?” Marinette rolled her eyes.

“Nothing. You’re stuck with me.” Adrien kissed the back of her hand.

Marinette may have been worried about a certain judgemental parental figure watching them but when Adrien smiled at her like that there was little she could worry about.

It wasn’t until another attention grabbing “Ahem,” from the end of the table drew their attention again did they let go of their moment.

Mr. Agreste studied them in silence for a minute before nodding and standing up. “You’ve chosen a good partner, Adrien.”

“Thank you, father.”

His eyes slid to Marinette. “Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, have a pleasant rest of your evening.”

“You as well, Mr. Agreste.”

With that his father left the room and dessert was brought out to the two rigidly sat teenagers. Adrien let out a long sigh. “You brilliant woman. That went much better then I was expecting.”

“Are you saying you doubted me?” Marinette scoffed but there was uncertainty in her eyes.

“Never.” He leaned across the space between them, his eyes darting to her lips. The sweet scent of her perfume pulling him in closer. The sound of his heartbeat pounded in his ears. “Marinette, may I--”

_KABOOM!_

The pair jumped apart. Then the ground started to shake.


	15. Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're just kids and life is a NIGHTMARE!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/190052177201/for-better-or-worse-15

The ground settled and Marinette looked to Adrien. "What was that?"

Both of their phones went off. Akuma alert. It was right outside the mansion gates.

"We need to go." Adrien grabbed Marinette and made a break for the stairs.The Gorilla ran out of one of the adjacent rooms and grabbed both Adrien and Marinette and slung them over his shoulders before sprinting to Adrien's room. He deposited the kids inside and left to barricade the rest of the house.

"Are you okay?" Adrien asked.

"Yeah.” Marinette searched for an excuse to get away and transform. “You?”

“Fine. Leave it to Hawkmoth to spoil dessert though.”

“He really does have impeccably annoying timing.”

“Like my stomach,” Adrien groaned and backed towards the bathroom, “Dinner isn’t sitting well so I’m gonna let loose in here. It could take a while so don’t freak out if I don’t come out for a bit.”

“Okay?” Marinette felt bad that her boyfriend was sick but at least it gave her the excuse to transform.

The second the door was closed and locked she ran to the window and transformed before swinging into battle.

Sandboy had made another appearance and his nightmares were terrorizing the city. A particularly haunting one showed a man running from a series of explosions that shook the ground. That was one mystery solved.

A minute later Chat Noir showed up. He seemed agitated if his pacing around the rooftops was any indication.

“Hey, Chat Noir. You didn’t get hit by Sandboy did you?” Marinette asked, concerned.

“No. I doubt he could do anything to me though. My life is already a nightmare!”

“Are you okay?”

“One kiss! That is all I am asking!” Chat Noir yelled at the akuma, “All I want is to get to kiss my girlfriend one time! Is that too much to ask?”

“I don’t think now is the best time to be bemoaning the lack of lip-locking in your relationship.”

“It is when Hawkmoth is the one that ruined it!”

“Shake it off, kitty. You can kiss your girlfriend later.” Marinette charged at the akuma.

Chat Noir trailed close behind her grumbling. He wasn’t the only one in a bad mood tonight. The best thing about having dinner with Adrien’s dad was the food. It was a fine line to walk between being respectful and calling him out on his expectations of Marinette’s intentions. The man may be her favorite designer and she was in love with his son but he was so intimidating. She was super relieved when he finally left.

Then there was the disappointment because she thought Adrien was finally going to kiss her before the akuma spoiled it. She’d have kissed him already if it wasn’t for the fact that she doesn’t want to force him into anything he isn’t ready for. Any time she went in for a kiss or it looked like he was going to he usually swerved to her cheek. It was cute but oh so frustrating!

“Ladybug, watch out!” Chat tackled Marinette who hadn’t been paying attention.

Sandboy’s nightmare dust fluttered down but it looked like it missed them. “Did you get hit?” Chat asked. “You spaced out there.”

Marinette swung her yo-yo. “Powers are still intact. How about you? Did you get hit pushing me out of the way?”

He shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

“Then let’s do this.” They chased after Sandboy.

Sandboy’s nightmares flooded the streets. People ran away from giant snakes to clowns on tiny tricycles. Marinette and Chat Noir dodged them and got people out of harm’s way as best they could while trying to keep up with Sandboy.

“I think that’s everyone.” Chat dropped off another person on a neighboring rooftop. “Did you see that nightmare that was just covered in bellybuttons?”

“Ew. Don’t remind me. I think the bellybuttons had teeth.” Marinette shuddered. “But everyone is safe and Sandboy is dead ahead.”

“It’s about time we give this villain a...wake up...call…” Chat looked past Marinette. A look of horror on his face.

“What?” Marinette turned around and saw what he had been staring at. Ahead of them stood a familiar silhouette against the bright night sky.

“No…” Marinette’s hands began to shake. But the nightmare sand had missed them. Hadn’t it?

She looked at Chat Noir and saw he was shaking too but it didn’t seem from fright. His staff was clutched tightly in his fist. A terrifying mix of rage and guilt etched into the lines of his face.

“Is it yours or mine?” Marinette whispered.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m getting rid of it.” Chat Noir charged.

“Chat! Wait!” Marinette swung after him.

The silhouette charged forward too. A glowing light sprouting from its hands until the visage of white became clear. A blast that rivaled Chat Noir’s Black Storm shot from the nightmare. Marinette grabbed Chat and dodged out of the way.

“Don’t run, my lady.” Chat Blanc prowled closer towards them. “It only makes me mad.”

“She’s not your lady!” Chat Noir pushed off the ground and ran at Chat Blanc.

Marinette scrambled to her feet. Chat Noir and Chat Blanc met each other with explosive impact. Chat Noir was on the offensive trying to land a hit on his pale doppelganger that dodged him with an unnatural grace and calm. They didn’t have time for this. Sandboy had disappeared from view.

“Chat Noir!” Marinette threw herself between the two of them. “We need to focus on the akuma. We take out Sandboy and this nightmare will end.”

“Scared to face me, my lady?” Chat Blanc said. “Just like you were last time.”

He held up his hand. A ball of power waiting to blast them into dust.

“Stay away from her!” Chat Noir jumped over Marinette and swung his staff at Chat Blanc. The white cat went sailing down the street with the hit.

“There, you got him, now let’s go!” Marinette tried to pull him away but he wouldn’t budge. “Chat! Come on! We need to lose him while we have the chance.”

“I...I can’t.”

She grabbed him by the ears and forced him to look at her. “He’s not real.”

“He is though.”

Chat Blanc had recovered and was running towards them. Chat Noir looked to her as if seeking permission.

She let go of him. “Together.”

Chat Noir turned towards his enemy. Marinette settled herself into a fighting stance. Chat Blanc fired rapidly at them. They dodged out of the way. Running in opposite directions so he was forced to choose one of them to follow. He chose Ladybug.

She leapt out of the way of his attacks and kept his attention so Chat Noir could leap from behind. Chat Blanc was a step quicker and had blocked Chat Noir’s attack with his staff. The momentum was too much and they both went tumbling to the ground. Chat Noir was able to pin him.

Chat Blanc didn’t struggle. He laid back on the ground. A wide, sadistic, creepy smile stretched across his face. “What are you going to do now?” Chat Blanc mocked Chat Noir. “What can a scaredy cat like you do? You can’t protect anyone. Not even yourself.”

“Shut up!” Chat Noir screamed, “You don’t know anything!”

“You’ll never be rid of me.” Chat Blanc grabbed Chat Noir by the bell. From where he held him Chat Noir’s suit slowly started to bleed white. “I am you.”

“Cataclysm!” Chat Noir grabbed Chat Blanc’s face and slammed his head down back into the pavement.

Marinette stood stunned as the nightmare was consumed with black before crumbling into dust. The white around Chat Noir’s suit faded back to black.

Cautiously Marinette approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around and she startled backwards. He had the same dead look in his eye as Chat Blanc.

“Chaton?”

He shook his head and the life came back to him. Overwhelming guilt now washing over his entire person.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Chat stood up. “I wasted my power. I’m sorry.”

“Chat. I’m not worried about you using your power. I’m worried about you. Are you okay? That was rather…intense.”

“I’m fine. Let’s go defeat Sandboy before I transform back.”

There was no talking to him like this. Not when there was an easy excuse right there. One he was technically right about.

They leapt after Sandboy and were finally able to corner him. One tube of miraculous toothpaste later and Sandboy was back to normal and the streets of Paris nightmare free.

“I’m about to transform back.” Chat showed his ring with one minute left. “Think you can get him home?”

“Yes.” She grabbed Chat before he could take off and kissed his cheek. He looked at her perplexed. “At least you got one kiss tonight.”

His expression lightened and he bumped his fist against hers. “Have a nice evening, my lady.”

Marinette grabbed the little boy and took him home. She then raced back to the mansion. Hopefully Adrien hadn’t noticed she was gone yet.

She slipped in through the window just as her transformation wore off.

“Marinette!” Adrien came charging into the room. “Oh thank goodness, there you are.”

He scooped her up in a big hug. “I came out of the bathroom and I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

“Sorry. I was hiding from the akuma.” She lied. “Are you okay? Sandboy didn’t give you a nightmare did he?”

“Nope. Nightmare free.” Adrien was still holding her. “Except for our spoiled dessert.”

“It’s not spoiled yet.” Marinette grabbed his hand and they went back to the dining room. Their dessert dishes still sat waiting for them perfectly intact. “See?”

They sat down and finished their dessert in silence. If Adrien’s dad hadn’t ruined the mood then the akuma certainly had. After they finished their dessert Adrien gave her a ride home and apologized for the less than great night.

“Next time we have dinner let’s leave the parents at home.” Marinette pulled him down for a kiss on the forehead. “Sweet dreams, sunshine.”

Adrien stared hard at her a moment more before placing a lasting kiss on her forehead. “Sweet dreams, my star.”

She blushed. The new nickname had grown on her.

\---

“Adrien?” Plagg crawled into Adrien’s hair as he tried to fall asleep. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“What’s there to talk about? Me chickening out of kissing Marinette again?” Adrien replied. He had already kicked himself for that enough on the car ride back home after dropping her off.

“No.” Plagg sighed, “I meant earlier. The nightmares…”

Adrien stayed silent.

“Okay. That’s fine.” Plagg padded around on Adrien’s head. “Not a good time. I get it.”

Adrien started fiddling with his ring. “I thought…” he whispered, “I thought it might make me feel better.”

“Did it?” Plagg asked.

“No.”

“You’re not the first one of my kittens that’s had to deal with something like this. It’s a workplace hazard. It happens to Ladybugs too so you don’t need to feel guilty.”

“I know you’re trying to help but I’m still gonna feel guilty. Even if it wasn’t actually me. Even if the nightmare wasn’t real. It happened. I hurt people. I endangered the ones I care about.” Adrien clamped his eyes shut, “There are some things that will never wash away.”

“That is true. But you don’t have to let it consume you.” Plagg yawned, “Now get some sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

“You can be rather sweet when you want to be.” Adrien chuckled.

“I’m a variety of flavors, Adrien.” He pawed at his head a little more. “Now sleep. I’m exhausted and need my beauty rest.”

“Goodnight, Plagg.” Adrien scratched the top of his kwami’s head.

“Goodnight, Adrien.” Plagg drifted off to sleep.

Adrien had a harder time following suit. His thoughts going by too fast to settle. He took a deep breath and forced himself to think of something calming. Something he liked.

Video games. Gel pens. Fencing. Chouquettes. Hamsters. Sci-fi novels. Flower crowns.

Across from him he saw the swan plushie he had bought earlier that day with Marinette and smiled.

What else did he like?

Big blue eyes. A freckled nose. Dark silky hair that always smelled like honey and flowers. A too big hoodie on a small frame. A voice as clear and sweet as a bell. A pair of peony pink lips spread into a warm smile.

He held the swan plush close and closed his eyes. No nightmares followed.


	16. Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With friends like these who needs enemies?
> 
> Give Adrien Cuddles 2k20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/190095767336/for-better-or-worse-16

There are days when you wake up and you have a good feeling. You can’t explain it. The world is bright and you can’t help but feel that it is going to be a good day. Then you get to school and everything good about the world gets flushed down the toilet along with your optimism. This was one of those days!

And you would not guess who was grating on Marinette’s happy mood this day. It was a one-two punch of Chloe and Lila. Take into account that Adrien hadn’t showed up for classes today and Alya had to leave early for a dentist appointment, that left Marinette at the mercy of her two least favorite classmates. And it was about as fun as it sounded.

“Marinette!” Lila approached her with a smile, “There you are. I thought that since Alya isn’t here today you’d like to be my seat buddy today.”

“Sure. Sounds nice, Lila.” Marinette forced a smile and looped her arm through Lila’s as they ascended up the steps to class.

“Why in the world do you want to sit next to me?” Marinette asked through clenched teeth.

“So I can sit behind Adrien.” Lila gritted back.

“Adrien is staying home today. He’s not even gonna be in class.” Marinette told her.

Lila’s grip on her arm got tighter. “Why didn’t you mention that earlier?”

“I thought that since you two are such good friends he would have texted you. It’s not like you two are faking a friendship to make you look better. That would be stupid.” Marinette pinched her back. “Still want to sit next to me?”

“Everyone already heard us so I guess I’ll have to.” Lila grumbled.

“I hate you.”

“The feeling is mutual.” The girls took their seats. “You know, if we’re meant to be friends then you should really give me Adrien’s number.”

“Pfft,” Marinette snorted.

“Yours too.”

“Why? So you can harass me over the phone as well?”

“We need to cover out bases. Real friends swap numbers. You also need to add me on your social media.”

“Do we have to go that far?”

“We both know a majority of interaction is done through social media these days. If we’re not acting like friends online as well as in public then someone is going to think something is up.”

“Fine. The second this is over I’m blocking you.” Marinette took out her phone and added Lila.

“Good.” Lila added Marinette as well. “Be sure to let Adrien know.”

“Let’s get one thing clear right now,” Marinette said, “If you hurt that boy in any shape or form I will end you. He is too good to be victim to your manipulation.”

“Ooh, so scary.” Lila rolled her eyes. “Put on a smile. We’re supposed to be friends.”

“Is it too much for you to act genuinely nice? Even a little?”

“Like you’d be nice to me.” Lila scoffed.

“I would, Lila. That’s the thing. I genuinely would be nice to you if you gave me any reason to be. But you never will.” Marinette opened her notes.

Marinette got about ten seconds of silence before it was interrupted once again.

“Hey, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe slammed a hand down on her desk. “Did you get my Adrikins sick?”

“No. I didn’t get him sick.” Marinette took a deep breath to cool down. “He woke up feeling lethargic and disconnected from the world so is take a day off to recoup. Didn’t he text you?”

“He told me that he was skipping today but didn’t tell me why.” Chloe furiously started typing on her phone. “Why would he tell you all that?”

“Maybe because I’m his girlfriend.”

“I’ve been his friends since we were in diapers! Girlfriend or not I outrank you!”

“Are you texting him?” Marinette asked.

“Yes. I want answers.”

“Nope!” Marinette snatched the phone out of her hands and deleted the message.

“Hey! Get your filthy hands off my phone!” Chloe tried grabbing it.

“Only after you promise not to bother him. He’s not in a place to be dealing with your petty jealousy.” Marinette kept the phone out of reach. “Promise me, Chloe.”

“Give me back my phone!”

“Okay, how about this.” Marinette leaned farther away, “I told Adrien I would call him during lunch. You can tag along and talk to him then. Sound fair?”

“But--”

“Chloe,” Marinette glared at her. “this isn’t about you.”

Chloe stopped clawing for her phone and stood back to think. She nodded solemnly. “Fine. For my Adrien’s sake.”

“Thank you.” Marinette handed her the phone back. “I’m sorry for taking your phone.”

“It’s fine. If your butterfingers dropped it daddy would always buy me a new one.” Chloe huffed and went to sit down.

Marinette looked over at Lila who hadn’t said a word during the entire altercation. “Not that I don’t want you to but would you like to have lunch and talk to Adrien as well?”

“That so sweet of you, Marinette.” Lila talked a touch louder so everyone around them heard her. “Of course I would love to have lunch with you and Chloe.”

“Great.” Marinette smiled back. At least with Chloe around Lila wouldn’t be able to act nasty lest her perfect mask be shattered.

Classes crawled by and soon it was time for lunch. Chloe insisted on going back to her dad’s hotel for lunch since she didn’t want to eat commoner lunch at the school. They got to the hotel and Marinette put off calling Adrien until after they had finished eating. She put the phone on speaker so the others could talk to him.

He picked up after the third ring. “Hello?” his voice sounded groggy.

“Hi, Adrien, how you feeling?” Marinette asked.

“Marinette!” his voice perked up, “I didn’t check to see who was calling me. I’m feeling a bit more alive. How is your day going, my star?”

The two other girls glared at Marinette. Oh if looks could kill.

“My day is going well. Wish you were here.” Marinette sighed. “I’m currently out having lunch with Lila and Chloe. Say hi, girls.”

“Hi Adrikins!” Chloe cooed.

“Hey, Adrien.” Lila said.

“Oh, hi girls, I didn’t realize this was a group call.”

“They were worried about you.” Marinette said.

“Yeah, and Dupain-Cheng wouldn’t let me text you because she thought I would be disturbing you or something like that.” Chloe said. “You’re not getting sick are you? Cause I’ll get the finest doctor over to you right away if you are.”

“I’m not sick, Chlo’,” Adrien said, “I just didn’t have the mental energy for school today. I should be back in tomorrow though.”

“That’s good to hear. Don’t want you to miss our shoot tomorrow.” Lila said sending Marinette a pointed look.

“Yep. Wouldn’t miss it.” there was a long pause, “Hey, Marinette, can you take me off speaker for a second? I need to ask you about something.”

“Sure.” Marinette tried not to show how pleased she was as she turned off speaker and held the phone up to her ear. “What’s up?”

“Are you okay?” he asked. “Why are you having lunch with Chloe and Lila?”

“Long story. I’m fine.” Marinette answered.

“Sorry I can’t be there to help you deal with Lila. But I’m curious as to how Chloe fits into this.”

“There’s no need for you to be. And as for the latter I’ll explain that later.” Marinette looked back at the girls as they feigned interest in their own phones while obviously trying to eavesdrop. “Was that all you wanted to ask me?”

“No. I was wondering if you wanted to go to another dance class this weekend. I really liked it and if you’re up for it then I think we should keep going.”

“I was thinking about that too. You hadn’t mentioned it since the first time and I thought maybe you had decided your schedule was packed enough.”

“I can always make time to dance with my girlfriend.” Adrien said. “I’ll book the lesson and afterwards I promise we’ll have a better post dance lesson snack than car ride nutella biscuits.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Car ride nutella and tea was the best post lesson snack.”

“Would it be too selfish to ask you to drop off my homework after school? I’d really like to see you.”

“Sure thing. Anything else? Get better cookies? Homemade soup?”

“Just the homework and maybe some therapy cuddles if I can keep you in the house long enough.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you after school. I’m gonna put you back on speaker to say bye to the girls.”

“Hey! I barely got to talk to him!” Chloe whined.

“Sorry, Chloe, I’ll talk to you tonight. Okay?” Adrien said.

Chloe muttered in agreement.

“Bye Adrien,” Lila said.

“Bye girls. Bye doodle bug.”

“Bye bye sunshine.” Marinette hung up. A small blush creeping up her neck.

Lila and Chloe were back to glaring at her. “Lunch is just about over. We should get back to school.” Marinette stood up. “You coming?”

“I’ll have the car pull around.” Chloe waved to one of the hotel attendants to do just that.

“I think I’m gonna walk.” Lila said. “Work off that pasta I ate. Little things like that help keep a model figure after all.”

“I agree that it would help maintain a model figure but shouldn’t you be taking bigger steps to gain a model figure first?” Chloe said, a devious smirk on her face.

Marinette turned around so they couldn’t see her giddy smile. Dang Chloe! That was a cheap shot but the look on Lila’s face had been worth it.

After the shock had passed Lila neutralized her face. “I’m so sorry, Chloe. Having a critic like your mother you’re probably used to her preferred model body types. Stick figures with no defined curves, like yourself, are great for some types of fashion. But the Agreste Brand likes to dress those for more realistic bodies like mine.”

And now a dig at Chloe. This dining room was going to turn into a battle arena if someone didn’t step in.

“Excuse you!” Chloe practically had steam coming out of her ears. “What was that about me being a stick figure!”

“Chloe, the car is waiting.” Marinette grabbed Chloe and started pulling her away. “Bye Lila. See you back at the school.”

Chloe was so mad she didn’t even fight Marinette as she dragged her out of the hotel and pulled her into the waiting car. The entire time she kept muttering angrily to herself about Lila and curves and whatnot. The digs at appearance weren’t fair. Marinette may think those things from time to time but she’d never be so catty as to tear down another girl by knocking on her appearance.

“Hey, Chloe?” Marinette ventured. Chloe turned her death stare onto her. “Don’t take what Lila said seriously. You look great.”

“I wasn’t thinking about what that brat said.” Chloe scoffed, “And I know I look great.”

They lapsed into silence.

“Sorry you didn’t get to talk to Adrien longer.” Marinette finally said.

“He’ll call me when he’s better.” Chloe said as she gazed out the car window. “This isn’t the first time he’s missed stuff for this sort of thing.”

“He gets into these moods often?” Marinette asked. She hadn’t known this.

“They were pretty rare to begin with but they’ve been occurring more since he started school. I think it is just the stress of having a bunch of extra-curriculars going on all at once. He needs days to unwind.” Chloe murmured. She looked back at Marinette and sighed. “He ask you to bring his homework over?”

“How did you know?”

“Whenever he got into one of these funks when we were kids he’d find an excuse to call me over to his house to hang out. If he goes the entire day without interacting with someone he goes a little mad.” Chloe chuckled dryly. “He once woke me up at two in the morning spouting off a bunch of nonsense that only comes from being sleep deprived.”

“You mean like those weird topics you get on when it is super late and you end up arguing about something stupid like if burritos would be considered a sandwich?” Marinette laughed quietly.

“I spent half an hour arguing with him about whether or not fish were wet.” Chloe’s shoulders began to shake as she tried to contain her laughter.

“I mean...they aren’t wet.”

“Yes they are! They are literally underwater!”

“But if they’re underwater their entire lives then that’s just existence.”

“I am not having this argument again. Fish are in water, water is wet, ergo fish are wet!”

“Not if you think of how wet is perceived. Yes water is technically wet but a fish is only considered wet after it is taken out of the water and hasn’t dried.”

The atmosphere in the car lightened as the two girls got into a heated debate about whether or not fish are wet. Marinette was laughing the entire time as they pulled up to the school.

After classes were over Marinette got Adrien’s homework for the day and headed over to his house. The gates opened up and she went inside to deliver the homework.

Nathalie was waiting at the door. “Adrien said you would be stopping by with his homework.”

“Yes, I got it right here.” Marinette held the papers.

“Thank you. I’ll take that--”

“Marinette!” Adrien darted out of his room and came tumbling down the stairs. He was wearing only sweatpants and a well loved t-shirt. “You’re here.”

“Yeah. You asked me to drop your homework off you dork.” Marinette giggled as he scooped her up in a hug.

“I have been so bored!” he groaned into her shoulder. “Thankfully you’re here now.” He pulled her towards the stairs.

“Adrien, hold on.” Nathalie cut them off. “You know how your father feels about having unplanned guests in the house.”

“I told you Marinette was coming over.”

“To drop off your homework and to say hello.”

“Please Nathalie!” Adrien begged, “Just an hour.”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Forty five minutes.”

“Half an hour and you have to keep the doors cracked.”

“Thanks Nathalie!” Adrien pulled on Marinette again and they stepped inside his room. He made sure the doors were cracked as little as possible before grabbing Marinette and collapsing them both onto the bed.

“Hello there,” Marinette giggled as Adrien nuzzled closer to her, “Do you need attention this badly?”

“Duh.” he placed her hand on top of his head so she would play with his hair. “I know that I wouldn’t have been able to pay attention in class today but being cooped up in the house is so boring.”

Marinette ran her fingers through his golden locks. “How are you feeling now? You sound better then you were earlier.”

“I am. When I woke up I just knew that I wasn’t gonna be able to drag myself to school for the life of me.”

“Poor baby.”

“Poor you, how did you end up at lunch with Chloe and Lila?”

“Well Chloe was worried about you since you weren’t in class and I didn’t want her bothering you so I told her she could say hi at lunch. Then because Alya was at the dentist for the first half of the morning Lila sat herself right next to me since we are supposed to act like friends. I ended up inviting her too for reasons I regret.” Marinette smiled just the tiniest bit, “In the end Lila was still a pain but on the ride back to the school Chloe and I kinda got along.”

“Really?”

“It surprised me too. We got into a debate about whether or not fish are wet. It was a whole thing.”

“We had that same argument.” Adrien chuckled.

“I know. We were talking about you when she brought it up.” Marinette sighed.

“Something wrong?”

“It is so weird to think of Chloe as someone other than my years long bully. I know that logically she can’t be horrid all the time but all my experience with her has been negative up until recently.”

“I won’t act like I know why Chloe does some of the things she does but I love her like a sister. Ever since we were kids she’s been there and she means a lot to me.”

“If your feelings are sibling like love then why does she...you know…”

“The flirting?”

“Yeah.”

“I know why but it’s not my place to tell you. Let’s just say that there is zero chance that Chloe will ever be my girlfriend and we both understand that.”

“If she’s not actually looking to date you then why did she get so hostile when we got together?”

“Protective. Chloe is really protective over my relationships with other people. She’s kinda like father in that way but a lot more accepting of them if she thinks that they are sincere connections.”

“I am learning so much about someone I used to hate.”

“Like you said last night, ‘Communicating with someone and getting to know them tells much more about someone then a first impression ever could.’”

“Are you forgetting the many many years where I got to know Chloe and all she ever revealed herself to be was mean?”

“That’s fair. But things are different now. She’s matured. You both have. You can’t erase the past but maybe you can start to look past it.”

“My prince is so wise.” Marinette kissed his forehead.

“Prince?” Adrien looked up at her with those big green eyes brimming with excitement.

“Oh dear,” Marinette poked his nose, “Yes, I called you my prince. Does that amuse you.”

“I’m a prince!” he squeezed her tighter.

“The dorkiest prince I’ve ever met.”

“Why am I a prince?”

“Well you call me, my star, and it reminded me of The Little Prince since he is in space visiting all those planets. You got golden curls just like him too. I don’t know, I thought it was cute.”

“I love The Little Prince. And I love my new pet name. Say it again.”

“Adrien,”

“No. Not Adrien.”

“You are so silly,” Marinette settled herself in his arms, “my prince.”

Before she left Marinette explained the new agreement with Lila about acting like friends online. Adrien wasn’t a fan of it easier but agreed that it would be a tad suspicious since they are supposed to be friends.

On the walk back home Marinette updated Adrien’s contact name in her phone.

_My Prince_

Just after she saved the change her phone went off with a reminder. “Dang it! I’m completely forgot!” Marinette took off running in the opposite direction. “He is gonna kill me if I’m late again!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and the lovely comments you leave me! They make my day and I love hearing from you all! Love ya! <3


	17. Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagami and Luka are great friend material!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/190209008921/for-better-or-worse-17

“I’m here! I’m here!” Marinette rushed into one of the public library study rooms.

“Marinette,” Fu drew the blinds of the room, “You’re late.”

“Sorry. I was at my boyfriend’s house and lost track of time.” Marinette sat down at the table.

“No matter. Today will be a quick meeting.”

Ever since Master Fu’s cover had been blown their lessons had to be moved to different locations. While it was risky to keep meeting at the same place they had established that one of the quiet study rooms of the public library ideal to this end.

“What was it that you wanted to go over? Potions? Other miraculous? History of the Guardians?” Marinette pulled out her notes.

“No. Today we are addressing something much more important.” Fu sat down across from her. “You have progressed so far in your studies and training to become the next Guardian of the Miraculous. There is still things that I need to teach you but I am proud to say that your training is near complete.”

“Really? I feel like I haven’t spent that much time training at all.” Marinette was surprised by his admission.

“But you have. You take the work of the miraculous very seriously and it shows. I will admit that I was surprised by how fast you progressed in such a short time. I thought maybe you weren’t absorbing the material at the rate you seemed. In the end though you have showed to have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of everything pertaining to the miraculous.”

“Not everything. I still can’t use my power without transforming back right away.”

“That is a skill that can only be achieved through experience and patience. It will come.”

“And what about new powers? Not just the power ups that we give the kwamis.”

“You are speaking of Chat Noir’s new power. The Black Storm.”

“Yes. You still haven’t explained how he was able to do that or if I am capable of achieving new powers like that.”

“Marinette, the miraculous are a mystical and mysterious artifact. We may only be scratching the surface of what they are capable of. There are plenty of holders before you and Chat Noir who had widely different powers then the original that they themselves created.”

“Are you saying that Chat Noir created that power by himself? How is that possible?”

“I believe he tapped into something far more powerful than Plagg’s power.” Fu pulled up a video on his phone. It was the battle with Chat Blanc. “Emotion drives people. It can cause great happiness as well as immense pain. I heard your concerns about Chat Noir after he was akumatized. I know he suffers from his experience but it also seems that he has taken that experience and channeled it into something productive.”

“Chat Noir got this new power because of his grief over being akumatized?”

“That is only a theory. But he may have gotten the idea from seeing what unlimited destructive energy looks like.”

“I see.”

“You are a smart girl so I hope I do not need to tell you to not get yourself akumatized in hopes of furthering your own power.”

“Master I would never.”

“I know. I just wanted to be clear.” Fu put his phone away. “In any case I think it is important that you and Chat Noir work together to harness and master this new power and any other powers you may develop.”

“I’ll be sure to let Chat know.”

“Good. The only other thing I wanted to go over today is what will happen when you are formally named the new Guardian of the Miraculous.”

“I’m listening.”

“When I formally relinquish the mantle of guardian to you then the box and miraculous inside will seal itself in protective shell that may only be opened by the new guardian so to keep others from taking them. All you need to do to remove the shell is to place your hand upon it and say this phrase, “Open for I am Ladybug, Guardian of the Miraculous.”

“Open for I am Ladybug, Guardian of the Miraculous. Got it.” Marinette nodded. “And what will happen to you master?”

“Marinette, when you become the new guardian you must understand that it will only be because it has grown too dangerous for me to continue to be the guardian. When you take on the mantle I will need to leave Paris so to protect the identities of you and Chat Noir from Hawkmoth.”

“Will you still remember us?”

“Yes. It used to be that the guardians would lose all memory pertaining to the miraculous after they passed on the title. But I found a loophole.”

“Of course you did.”

“You will be a great guardian one day, Marinette. Of that I am sure. But I hope to shield you from such a fate for a little while longer. You have already taken on such a heavy responsibility in your role as Ladybug. There is no rush to increase your burden with the title of guardian as well.”

“Thank you master.”

“If you do not have any further questions or concerns then I think our meeting today is concluded.”

“I believe I understand all that you’ve told me today.” Marinette stood up. “And I promise I will be on time next time.”

“You said that during our last meeting as well.” Fu opened the door to the room, “After you, Marinette.”

“Goodbye.” Marinette waved before finally heading home.

Thoughts about becoming the new guardian bounced around her head. She had always known that was what she had been training for but hearing Master Fu talk about passing on the guardianship to her made it feel much more real. Was she really ready for such a task? She was still learning everything about herself as Ladybug. Could she even handle being a guardian?

When she got home she expressed her doubts to Tikki. Tikki assured her that Fu knew what he was doing and that Marinette shouldn’t sell herself short. She had been training and studying to become the next guardian for months. The fact that she was practically ready for the responsibility after such a short time said much. Most guardians took years and years to train and half of them were nowhere near as naturally gifted with miraculous as Marinette was. Fu’s faith in her abilities was a testament to how far she’s come since she first became Ladybug.

Fu chose well. Marinette needs to understand that and believe in his judgement. Besides, if at all possible Fu will hold off on officially making her the guardian until she is an adult. That made Marinette feel a little better.

Marinette’s phone pinged with a message. It was Kagami.

_Hey, do you want to get juice tomorrow after school?_

Marinette hadn’t really spoken to Kagami since she started dating Adrien. She knew how Kagami felt about him and couldn’t help but feel kinda bad. That wasn’t fair to either of them. She couldn’t keep avoiding her. She didn’t want to lose Kagami as a friend.

_Sounds fun! Our usual place?_

_Kagami texted her back._

_Yes. See you there at four?_

_Four it is!_

_Can’t wait :)_

\---

After classes finished the next day Marinette went to meet Kagami. Adrien was taking a page out of Kagami’s book and ditched fencing practice to have a jam session with Kitty Section on the Couffaine houseboat. She got to their usual juice spot and waited for Kagami to show up before ordering.

“Hi Marinette,” Kagami sat down. “It’s been too long since we’ve hung out.”

“It really has.” Marinette relaxed seeing how composed Kagami was.

She had been so paranoid about this hang out all day but seeing Kagami smiling from the start eased her worries. It wasn’t that she was scared of Kagami but rather her confidence and cool demeanor made it hard to tell how she was feeling. If she was upset or angry it would be harder to spot under her blank expression. But she was smiling and laughing so that had to be a good sign.

Things started out fine. The girls ordered their juice and got caught up about what they had been up to since the last time they really talked. It was all really nice but it became apparent the longer they talked that they were tiptoeing around the elephant in the room.

“Kagami, can I ask you something?” Marinette finally ventured.

“Yeah, what is it?” Kagami stirred the ice around in her drink.

“Are you mad that I’m dating Adrien?” she asked.

Kagami let out a deep breath. “I was just about to say something myself.” She shook her head, “No, Marinette, I am not mad that you and Adrien are dating. I’m actually pretty proud of you. I was wondering if you were ever going to get the guts to confess to him.”

“Yeah...it wasn’t a graceful confession.”

“I gathered that much.” Kagami smirked, “Adrien told me a little about your trip to the wax museum.”

“He did?” Marinette cringed.

“Only a bit. But it must have worked out in the end given that you two are still going strong over a month later.”

“It was a very...careful conversation that followed. I had to make sure that he was what I really wanted and I had to make it clear to him that he should only be with me if that’s what he wanted. It was all very awkward and hard to talk about...kinda like this.”

“Marinette,” Kagami laid a hand overtop hers, “I am not upset at you and Adrien for choosing to be together. Am I a bit disappointed that he’s off the market? Sure. But I could never be angry at either of you for following your hearts.”

“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that. For weeks I’ve been fretting about how you must be feeling and I was avoiding you because I scared how you’d react and I hated it. I hated being so worried about how my relationship with Adrien would affect our friendship. Looking back on it now it was pretty silly. You’re probably one of the most mature people I know.”

“I figured that’s what had been going on. But I asked you out today so that we could clear the air.”

“Have you talked to Adrien at all?”

“Yes. Adrien and I hashed things out fairly quickly.” Kagami snickered, “Once I assured him it was okay to talk about you and your relationship around me he hasn’t shut up about you. Marinette this. Marinette that. Marinette and I did this. I can’t wait to see Marinette. If it wasn’t for the fact that I adore the both of you it would be pretty annoying.”

“He doesn’t really talk about me that much. Does he?”

“The boy is absolutely smitten with you. There’s actually a game going on during fencing practice now because of it.”

“What kind of game?”

“Everytime he says your name everyone within earshot has to yell back ‘Mr. Marinette’ no matter what they are doing. He gets so red in the face and flustered, it’s pretty funny.”

“Kagami! That’s mean!”

“It’s playful teasing. Back before you two started dating every time Adrien and I sparred the others would look at us and say, ‘mommy and daddy are fighting again.’ It was embarrassing and one time Adrien innocently referred to himself as ‘daddy’ without realizing the implications and it was a whole thing.”

Oh Adrien…

“Well, I’m glad that we’re okay.” Marinette said, “I would have hated for Adrien to have come between us.”

“You really think I would let a guy ruin our fun?”

“Never.” Marinette raised her glass. “To not letting boys come between a pair of cool girls.”

“Here here,” Kagami held up her own. The rest of their afternoon went along perfectly before Kagami had to make it back home before her mom realized she wasn’t at fencing practice. The girls parted ways with promises to talk more now that they had cleared everything up between them.

Walking home Marinette couldn’t help but wonder how Adrien’s afternoon had gone.

\---

When Adrien showed up at the Couffaine houseboat everything was good. The band was together and tuning their instruments. Rose was subtly turning down Luka’s amps so they didn’t get a ticket for disturbing the peace again. Adrien stood in front of the keyboard playing a mindless little tune.

“That’s really pretty,” Juleka said, “Is it a lullaby?”

“Oh it’s just something I was playing.” Adrien shrugged.

“Play it again.” Rose came up to him now.

“Okay,” he started playing the melody again.

“It sounds familiar…” Rose tapped her chin. “Oh I know! It’s that lullaby Marinette sings. You know the one, Juleka, whenever you were having that panic attack and she sang it to calm you down.”

“Oh it totally is,” Juleka smiled, “I don’t know the lyrics though.”

Adrien nodded. He hadn’t even noticed Marinette’s lullaby was what he had been playing. It was nice to think that she shared it with others when they were feeling bad. He wondered how many others knew that song.

_“The moon is watching over you. The moon is bright tonight. Everything is asleep. Everything is still. Fall off to sleep. Fall into dreams.”_

The group turned to stare at Luka. Even though the song was in another language he sang it perfectly. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to tuning his guitar unperturbed by the confused people around him.

Marinette had sung that same lullaby to Luka? Often enough that he knew the lyrics? The lyrics that are in Chinese?

He is not jealous. He is not jealous. That green little monster does not exist within him. Marinette can sing whatever she wants to her friends as many times as she wants. Just because she had feelings for Luka and Luka had feelings for her means nothing. Adrien is her boyfriend. He is cool. He is not going to start worrying about her relationships with other guys. Cause that is stupid and He is not insecure about his relationship.

Okay.

He was a tiny, little, itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny, wee bit jealous.

And it felt gross.

It is a song that she obviously sings to her friends to make them feel better. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Was it just because he knew that Marinette had struggled to choose between him and Luka? That’s not fair considering the whole reason they had to have that long talk on the Path of Swans was because Adrien wasn’t sure he was ready to move on from Ladybug.

He hadn’t even thought about what Luka thought about all this. Marinette had told Adrien that Luka liked her but always encouraged her to pursue Adrien. But was he really okay with it? He needed to say something.

After their little jam session on the boat Juleka and Rose ran off to Juleka’s room and Ivan left for home. That just left Luka and Adrien to finish packing up their equipment for the day.

“Hey, Luka,” Adrien tapped him on the shoulder, “Is it okay if we talk for a second?”

“Yeah, what’s up?” Luka said.

“So...um…” how was he supposed to bring this up?

“You want to talk about how you’re dating Marinette now, don’t you?” Luka guessed correctly.

Adrien was taken aback by his bluntness. “How did you know that?”

“Because I’ve been meaning to talk to you too.” Luka closed his guitar case and sat down. He motioned for Adrien to sit down too. “I saw how you were acting earlier when I started singing her lullaby and I knew you had some things you wanted to say.”

“Yes, but not what you think. I am perfectly happy that you two are friends. I’m not about to start telling you to back off because I’m dating her now. I’m not like that.”

“I know you aren’t. But since I’m assuming Marinette told you everything before you started dating that you want to make sure that I’m okay with all of it.”

“I know I’m the one that initiated this conversation but can I say I am so glad you’re taking the lead on this.” Adrien breathed out in relief, “Yes. Marinette informed me and I even made a joke saying that I wondered why it was even a competition since you seemed so perfect and understanding.”

“I am far from perfect.” Luka smiled, “Also all I want is what is best for my friends. If you two are your happiest with each other then that’s all that needs to be said.”

“You are so zen about this I love it.”

“I mean I’m zen now but in the beginning was a whole different story.”

“What does that mean? Were you disappointed that we were going out?”

“No. The only thing that’s been bothering me is that I think Marinette has been avoiding me since you two got together. I don’t think she’s aware that she’s doing it since any time we’re together we have all out other friends along too so she just doesn’t notice but that bothers me a little. Cause even if we aren’t dating I would still like to keep her as a friend. You know what I mean?”

“I get it. I had the same problem with Kagami too but we talked and worked it out.” That was another conversation he knew he needed to have but wasn’t too prepared for. “But what were you talking about before? The whole not being so zen thing?”

“Right. What you need to understand that this was a very short lived phase way back before you two had started dating.” Luka looked embarrassed, “I hate to say it but I honestly kinda hated you for a bit.”

“What!” Adrien wasn’t expecting that, “But you were always so nice. Why did you hate me?”

“Because I thought you were being a jerk to Marinette. Here was this amazing, talented, beautiful girl who was head over heels for you and not subtle about it at all and you did nothing.”

“I didn’t know she liked me.”

“And that’s what I didn’t believe. At first I thought that you weren’t aware of her crush but if you watched for five seconds how she acted around you it was obvious. Painfully obvious. I thought there was no way you could actually be that dense to her feelings and that you had to be faking it. That you knew how she felt but weren’t saying anything to mess with her or string her along on some ego trip.”

“I would never do that. Not to Marinette. Not to anyone.”

“I know that now but at first that’s what I thought and it made me so angry. Angry that you had this great girl practically throwing herself at you and all you did was smile and wave. Did I try to stop her? No. I knew how she felt about you and if she was going to be her happiest being with you then I wanted her to have it. But I also let her know how I felt. Whether she chose me or not I was going to let her know that I liked her and wanted to be with her.”

Was that a fair shot? Yeah. Marinette literally had his picture posted everywhere in her room for a while. It was obvious to anyone watching the show that day how Marinette felt but Adrien just waved it off like all the other hints he had been blinded to.

“When did you find out that I was that dense?” Adrien asked.

“Pretty quick. I complained to Juleka about it and she explained to me in earnest exactly how thick you were. I didn’t want to believe it but I also know Juleka isn’t one to lie.”

“So are we good now? You’re not angry that Marinette and I are dating?”

“Are you two happy together?”

“Yes.”

“Are you committed to the relationship?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then I am ecstatic for you.”

“You mean that?”

“Yes. But if there is one thing you could do for me, can you get Marinette to talk to me? Like I said before she hasn’t said much to me since you started dating and I want to clear the air with her as well.”

“I’ll let her know.”

“Thanks, man.” Luka patted him on the back. “Do you feel better now.”

“Loads.”

“Good. Come inside, I’ll make you some tea and you can calm down.” Luka walked into the kitchen area.

“I am calm but I will take some tea.” Adrien followed him.

“Dude...you’re shaking.”

“I seem to do that when I have emotional conversations.” Adrien glanced down at his hands and noticed them trembling slightly.

“Did you shake when you told Marinette you wanted to date her?” Luka started filling the kettle with water.

“Yes. So badly.”

“You were probably causing tremors in the ground trying kiss her for the first time, huh?” he chuckled.

“I...um...I haven’t…”

“You haven’t kissed her yet? Adrien, it’s been what? A month?”

“I know! I’ve tried before but I either chicken or something interrupts us.”

“Are you worried you’re not a good kisser?”

“I am a perfectly adequate kisser!” Adrien pouted.

“Put your money where your mouth is then.”

“Luka, you’re a good looking guy and it’s not like the thought hasn’t entered my mind but I’m not gonna kiss you before I’ve ever kissed Marinette.”

“Okay. Good to know.” Luka looked like he was trying not to laugh, “I was talking about manning up and kissing your girlfriend. I wasn’t trying to make you prove you were a good kisser by making out with me.”

“Oh…” Adrien’s face started to turn red hot.

“I mean if you would like to practice on me then that’s cool too--”

“Is the tea done yet!” Adrien shouted over him, “I would like some tea.”


	18. Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kill your enemies with kindness. Failing that sabotage works too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/190395300031/for-better-or-worse-18

Rain. Rain. Rain. And surprise! Even more rain!

The forecast for the week was just one giant raincloud.

Marinette stepped into the dry sanctuary of the school and shook out her umbrella. She waited by the door for Adrien to show up. He had an early morning photoshoot and she wanted to give him some pick-me-up treats. Persimmon muffins and a thermos of oolong tea.

When his car pulled up though Lila also got out of the car. And from the looks of it she remembered to ‘forget’ her umbrella so sidled up real close to Adrien to fit under his.

Cool down, Marinette. Sharing an umbrella is not a big deal. Marinette gets that close to Alya and Nino whenever they had to huddle under the same umbrella and it wasn’t weird. Of course the stark difference being that Lila is a demon spawn that is obviously manipulating what she can to steal moments of uncomfortable intimacy.

When they got up to the entrance Marinette fixed her face into a smile. “Good morning, lovely weather isn’t it?”

“The day is looking brighter already.” Adrien gave her a good morning kiss on the cheek. “Whatcha got there?”

“Muffins and tea. I thought it might help wake you up cause I know you didn’t take my advice and go to bed last night when I told you to.”

“You are an angel, my star.” Adrien took the little bag and thermos gratefully.

Lila was standing off to the side with a small scowl on her face.

“Hey, Adrien, give me that back for a second.” Marinette took a muffin out of the bag and held it out to Lila, “You were up early too. Would you like one?”

“What?” Lila looked at Marinette like she was crazy.

“They’re persimmon. My uncle’s personal recipe.” she placed the muffin in Lila’s empty hand. “What kind of friend would I be if I brought Adrien treats and not you?”

“Right,” Lila smirked, “so considerate of you to think of me, _friend_.”

She sauntered past the both of them munching on the fresh muffin.

“That was nice of you.” Adrien said. “Trying to do some prevention work?”

“A little.” Marinette shrugged, “But I’ve also been thinking about a kill them with kindness approach when it comes to Lila. Because we’re labeled as friends now I can use that to my advantage. I do all this nice stuff for her which makes me look like a great friend and eventually she’ll have to do something nice back. Either out of fear that everyone else will wonder why she doesn’t do favors for me or just plain guilt.”

“Is this a long game in exposing her?”

“I think more than anything I’m hoping that showing her genuine kindness even though she’s horrible will guilt her into changing her ways.”

“You think that will work?”

“I have no idea. But I think it is better to try at least. That way if and when she is exposed for the liar she is that’ll put us on the side of the victim because we were acting as her friend.”

“And what if she tells everyone that we’ve been faking the friendship to avoid her wrath?”

“Well seeing as how she is basically blackmailing us into acting as her friend I think I that can be forgiven. But also she’s been lying this entire time, if she was exposed then what proof would there be that it isn’t just another lie she’s telling?”

“I love it when you’re clever.” Adrien gushed as they walked up to class.

“I’m always clever.” Marinette preened at the praise.

“I know.” He said with a wink that made Marinette’s belly fill with butterflies.

They took their seats as class began.

Throughout the week Marinette made it a point to have one sincere moment of kindness a day when it came to Lila. At first Lila was skeptical and a tad confused by Marinette’s treatment. While in public Marinette had always done the bare minimum to convince everyone else that they were friends. But now? Now she was bringing Lila her favorite pastries from the bakery, letting her copy her notes, and inviting her out for lunch.

Lila wasn’t being outwardly hostile but with every favor or act if goodwill that Marinette did it was met with some passive aggressive nonsense. Some of Marinette’s favorites include, “Thanks for lending me your notes, I would have been finished sooner but it was hard to read your handwriting.” or “I was really craving something fruity but thanks for the eclairs I guess.”

The only time she ever seemed grateful was when Adrien was the one doing the favor. Marinette was trying to take the high road, maintain the charade she was in, but Lila made it so difficult.

During class Marinette was making plans for her and Adrien to have lunch together. Since they hadn’t really had any alone time since they started their ‘kill-Lila-with-kindness’ approach. She may have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for Chloe overhearing their plans and wanting to tag along which somehow got Lila roped in as well. So their quiet lunch date was now a group outing with the two girls Marinette liked the least.

They left the school and it was still pouring down rain. It wasn’t great weather but the cafe they were planning on going to was only a block down the street so they decided to walk. Chloe pulled out her own designer umbrella and refused to let anyone else under it cause she didn’t want to run the risk of getting even slightly wet. Adrien and Marinette had theirs and of course Lila ‘forgot’ hers again.

“Here Lila,” Marinette handed Lila her umbrella, “You can borrow mine.”

“Oh, that’s so kind but it’s not necessary.” Lila tried to hand the umbrella back. Her eyes drifting over to Adrien once again.

“I insist.” Marinette shoved the umbrella at her a little more forcefully then she intended. “Adrien and I can just share his.” Marinette slid over to Adrien and grabbed his hand.

“Yes, you two are adorable. Can we get moving before the streets flood more than they already have?” Chloe huffed with a roll of her eyes.

“We’re coming Chlo,” Adrien assured her. They stepped out into the rain. Chloe took a large lead ahead of them in an effort to get out of the rain quicker.

Adrien leaned closer to Marinette and whispered, “Everything okay? Got a little miffed back there.”

“I’m fine.” Marinette whispered back, well aware of Lila’s jealous stare burning holes into the back of her skull. “Sorry our lunch date got overrun.”

“Well we have another dance lesson this weekend so we’ll make up for it then.” he assured her with a small kiss to the crown of her head.

“AAH!” Marinette and Adrien whipped around and saw Lila sat on the sidewalk. Her one shoe was off and the umbrella was blowing down the street. “Just perfect…”

Adrien went chasing after the umbrella as it went tumbling down the street. Marinette kneeled down to Lila and held out a hand, “Are you okay?”

“Get away from me!” Lila snapped at her. She stood up on own and gathered her shoe from the ground. “Just stop already! Stop it!”

“Stop what?” Marinette tried to get closer so to shield Lila from the pouring rain.

“Your little good girl act. Knock it off already.”

“That’s not--”

“No one is around. You don’t have to pretend like we’re friends.” Lila tried in vain to wipe the wet dirt from her pants.

“Lila, calm down. The cafe is right there, lets get you inside where it’s dry then we’ll worry about everything else.” Marinette tried to usher her towards the building.

“I said stop it! Seriously! What is your problem?” Lila shouted.

“My problem? What do you mean, my problem?” Marinette fumed, “I don’t have a problem! I was trying to help you!”

“Like how you were so generous as to lend me your umbrella?” Lila rolled her eyes, “Please.”

That’s it! If Lila was really going to try and turn Marinette’s kindness around on her then she wasn’t going to play nice anymore.

“Are you seriously going to get mad that I didn’t want you cuddling up next to my boyfriend? I know you have basically blackmailed me and Adrien into being your friends but that doesn’t mean I’m going to roll over and let you drape yourself over him.” 

“Possessive much? Just because he’s your boyfriend doesn’t mean you get to control who he is with.”

“I don’t try to control who he hangs out with. And wanting him to be comfortable is not possessive.”

“Then why did you get so butt hurt about us sharing an umbrella?”

“Because he’s not comfortable being touched by you so familiarly. You force yourself on him in ways that he’s too nice to tell you he doesn’t like. He’s a person, Lila. Not the pretty, famous, accessory you treat him like.”

“Excuse you--”

“No! Excuse you! Cause I have been making a genuine effort to be kind and act like your friend this week and you have rebuffed me at every turn. And now? You’ve fallen, I offered you a hand and you took it as a threat somehow. Then when I told you I wasn’t going to stand for your repeated harassment of Adrien you accused me of being possessive. So either take my efforts to heart or get out of our lives.”

“You--you--” Lila was shaking with rage.

“I got it! I got the umbrella!” Adrien came running back. The poor boy was absolutely drenched. “Here you go, Lila.”

“Shut up!” Lila screamed before running off back towards the school.

Adrien watched confused as Lila stomped away. “I’ve missed something.”

“So have I apparently.” They turned around to see Chloe waiting by the cafe door. “Both of you get inside now.”

Marinette and Adrien trudged into the cafe.

“Adrien, I already called someone to drop you off some dry clothes. Go to the bathroom and dry off as best you can.” Chloe instructed. “Don’t worry about food I know what to order for you.”

“Thanks Chlo,” Adrien tried to give her a hug but thought better of it and settled for a quick air kiss.

Marinette sat down at the table with Chloe across from her. The quiet contemplation she exhibited was something Marinette hadn’t seen on her before. It was kinda frightening.

“So...where did you get a change of clothes for him?” Marinette asked, trying to fill the silence between them.

“I always make sure to have a few back up outfits for him at my place. In the off chance that he ruins what he’s wearing or ends up spending the night.” Chloe shrugged.

A few minutes later Chloe’s butler rushed in with Adrien’s change of clothes and a towel. Adrien finally emerged from the bathroom dry and Chloe ordered her butler to have his wet clothes dry cleaned and delivered back to his house.

Chloe stayed unnaturally quiet up until their food was delivered to the table.

“Adrien,” Chloe said, “When exactly were you going to tell me you were being blackmailed by that two-bit, knockoff of a knockoff weiner dog?”

“Blackmail is such a heavy word.” Adrien was trying his best to be nonchalant, “Lila isn’t--”

“I literally heard Marinette say that Lila was blackmailing you two. Don’t lie to me.” Chloe leveled him with a glare. She turned her gaze to Marinette, “You hate liars. Are you gonna tell me the truth?”

“It’s fairly complicated.”

“I bet.” Chloe took a bite of her salad, “What does she have over you?”

Adrien and Marinette explained what all had happened with Lila. All the lies, the manipulation, the arrangement Adrien made to get Marinette unexpelled, all of it. Chloe interjected to ask the occasional question or silently vent her anger before letting them continue.

By the end of their story the fury burning around Chloe was hot enough to roast marshmallows over. Yet she remained silent.

“Chloe, now that you know you can’t say anything. If Lila finds out then she’ll come after you and take all three of us down.” Marinette tried to explain. “We have this handled...for the most part.”

“Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe’s voice was soft but her words were clipped with impatience, “Stop talking. I’m trying to think.”

She took a deep breath. “You two have got to be the dumbest couple I’ve ever seen.”

“Chloe!”

“Adrien,” Chloe shut him up with a single glance, “This girl is taking advantage of you. I’m not gonna stand for it.”

“We appreciate the support but this isn’t your problem. Adrien and I got ourselves into this mess and it’ll be us who gets us out.”

“Cute. But no.” Chloe leaned back in her chair, “If Lila is that good at lying and manipulating then you need me. Someone who knows what she is but that she still considers ignorant.”

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other. That was true. Lila didn’t know Chloe knew the truth now.

“Are you saying you want to be a double agent and spy on Lila?”

“Yeah. No one takes advantage of my Adrikins.” Chloe stood up. “Now let’s get going. Lunch is almost over.”

“But Chloe--” Adrien was cut off by Chloe.

“I’m doing this.” With that she walked out of the cafe.

“This is good, right?” Adrien asked. “I mean we have another ally now.”

“Can we trust Chloe not to blow her own cover? She’s not exactly a great actress.” Marinette sighed.

“I think she’ll be fine. Chloe is always sort of acting in a way.” Adrien’s smile was sad. “Have more faith in her.”

“Okay,” Marinette took his hand, “If you really trust her then I do too.”

“Good.” Adrien kissed her hand.

They stepped back outside. It wasn’t raining anymore at least. The clouds had abated some letting the sunshine through to warm the city. Hopefully they would get back to the school before the break in the storm ended.


	19. Nineteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All these kids want is to have fun but the butterfly man is determined to make their lives as stressful as possible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/190432460076/for-better-or-worse-19
> 
> Also thank you all for the comments and kudos! Means a lot! Love ya!

The time following Lila’s tantrum and Chloe’s indoctrination into Adrien and Marinette’s circle of truth were surprisingly uneventful. Chloe acted oblivious to Lila’s lies. Lila was still keeping up the pretense of being friends with Marinette albeit barely. Her outburst in the rain had erased any progress Marinette may have thought she was making.

In a way Marinette was kinda sad for Lila. How damaged do you have to be to bite at someone who is intentionally being nice to you? It wasn’t like Marinette was pretending when she tried to help Lila after she tripped. It was a reflex. And Lila, as usual, had snubbed her. When all of this was over Marinette would be surprised if Lila could claim anyone as a friend still. All the connections she made in class, all of her friends, how many would turn on her when she was exposed? All of them? It would be her own fault of course but still...Marinette had felt what it was like to be turned against by people she thought she trusted. It was horrendous.

As much joy as showing everyone just how terrible Lila was and watching her downfall would bring her there was still a nagging sense of pity deep in her brain. She wasn’t one to enjoy the suffering of others. Even if they deserved it.

On a brighter side Chloe was being nicer. Well, as nice as Chloe could be. When Adrien and Marinette first started dating Chloe had restricted herself from outwardly taunting or bullying Marinette. Since their lunch Chloe had made a begrudging effort to act cordial around her. A forced smile there, a miniscule compliment here, and on rare occasions an awkward friendly pat. As strange as it was for both of them it made Adrien beyond happy so the girls silently agreed it was worth it.

“Hey, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe parked herself in front of Marinette’s locker.

“Hi, Chloe,” Marinette gently nudged her out of the way to get to her locker.

“Okay, so don’t make a big deal out of it but here.” she shoved an envelope into her hands. “It’s an invite to my parent’s anniversary this weekend. I know your parents are already catering the event but I figured that you could use an invitation to attend as a guest and not staff.”

“Oh, thanks Chloe.” Marinette looked at the invitation. “That’s very nice of you.”

“It’s for Adrien’s sake. All of my family’s oldest friends and most important guests will be at this event. It wouldn’t do if my best friend’s girlfriend was a server.”

“Of course,” Marinette slipped the invitation into her bag. “I appreciate the gesture. Even if you need to provide your own context to endure it.”

Chloe nodded. A sad sort of look crossing her features before she turned on her heel and left the room.

On the day of the anniversary party Marinette headed over with her parents to help them set up before the party started. Soon the guests started to arrive and Marinette detached from her parents to mingle. She was standing in the corner talking with Chloe and Adrien when she noticed Kagami and her mom walk in.

“Kagami!” Marinette waved her over, “Hey, I was wondering when you were gonna get here.”

“Hello everyone,” Kagami nodded to them. “No offense to you, Chloe, but I’ve only been here for three minutes and I’m already bored out of my mind.”

“How dare you! This is one of the events of the year!” Chloe huffed.

“Chloe,” Adrien gave her a look, “You tried to pretend to be sick this morning to get out of this. It’s boring.”

Chloe’s shoulders slumped, “Won’t be boring for long.” she muttered.

Adrien frowned before looking at Kagami and Marinette. “Uh, Marinette, Kagami must be thirsty. Why don’t you show her where the refreshments are?”

“Oh, sure,” Marinette took the hint and left with Kagami next to her. She glanced over her shoulder once they walked away and saw Adrien giving Chloe a hug. She didn’t know what was going on but it didn’t feel her place to ask questions.

The girls walked up to the refreshments table and got cups of punch for Adrien and Chloe as well. When they got back to their little corner Chloe was gone.

“Where did she go?” Marinette asked. “We brought drinks.”

“She got called over by her parents. They’re gonna start opening some presents I guess.” Adrien looked over at them with a sigh.

“I say that means this is a good time for us to bail.” Kagami said.

“We can’t just leave.” Adrien’s gaze slid to his bodyguard who was keeping an everwatchful eye on him from a distance. “Our parents would kill us.”

“I also don’t feel that good about ditching Chloe.” Marinette caught Chloe handing her parents a present with a nervous smile. “She didn’t look that good earlier.”

“So what do you two suggest? We suffer through this as a team?” Kagami asked.

Mayor Bourgeois and Audrey were in an argument that was quickly escalating out of control. Chloe stood close off to the side watching them with a unnatural calm.

“I think I have an idea.” Marinette wove her way through crowd to where Chloe was standing. “Chloe, would you be able to replace that shirt easily?”

“Yes. Why?” Chloe raised a brow at her.

“Because you’re not gonna like this.” Marinette ‘accidentally’ dumped her cup of punch all over Chloe’s shirt.

“DUPAIN-CHENG!” Chloe screamed. “You little--”

“What is that awful noise?” Chloe’s mom turned towards the girls. Her lips curled in disgust.

“I am so sorry, Chloe. My hand slipped. I’m such a klutz.” Marinette put on her most apologetic face.

“Oh my poor princess,” Mayor Bourgeois tsked as he approached his daughter. “Are you alright?”

“No! Dupain-Cheng dumped her--” Chloe stopped herself as the realization dawned on her. She immediately switched gears and turned on the crocodile tears.

“This was my favorite blouse!” Chloe sniffled. “And now it’s ruined!”

“Go get changed sweetheart. Take as much time as you need.” her dad sent her off with a kiss to the top of her head.

“Thanks daddy!” Chloe subtly nodded to Marinette before leaving the party.

Marinette made her way back to Adrien and Kagami. Not a minute later Adrien got a text from Chloe saying that she was going to keep herself locked in her suite for the remainder of the party.

“Good thinking, doodle bug.” Adrien relaxed as he put his phone away again. “So how about we work on getting ourselves out of this now?”

“Follow me, lovebirds.” Kagami motioned for them to keep close as they snuck into the kitchen. They trio ducked behind the island as Adrien’s bodyguard tried to follow after them.

A few tense moments later and they heard the kitchen door close again. Marinette peeked up to make sure no one was there. “Okay, where now Kagami?”

“Um…” she scanned the room, “Okay, this might sound stupid but bear with me.”

Kagami pointed at three large boxes resting in the corner.

“That is stupid.” Marinette nodded, “I’m in!”

The three teenagers huddled under the boxes and tried their best to sneak back out. It worked out about as well as they figured having been spotted by Adrien’s bodyguard almost immediately. They threw the boxes in his way and ran for the stairs. They rushed up and up and up until they got to the roof.

“Great idea, Adrien,” Kagami nodded, “Where are we supposed to go now?”

The Gorilla’s thundering footsteps were getting closer.

“Get in!” Adrien grabbed Kagami and Marinette’s hands before pulling them into the large ball pit. They waited under the plastic balls for what felt like forever before they heard the roof door close as the Gorilla left again.

They broke to the surface laughing.

“I gotta say I like being disobedient.” Kagami was grinning from ear to ear, “I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun.”

“Seriously? Well then,” Marinette threw a ball at Kagami’s head, “We should keep up the fun.”

“Oh yes we should!” Kagami aimed a ball at Marinette hitting her square in the face.

“Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!” Adrien chanted. The girls shared a look before hurling their plastic projectiles at him. “Hey!”

They got into a playful fight before Adrien saw Kagami dive under the balls. Marinette was pulled down shortly after. Both girls popped up once again laughing.

Adrien’s laughter died in his throat as he caught sight of Marinette. Her hair was down. How was it he had known her for this long and never saw her without her hair up? It was really pretty.

She was really pretty.

“See something you like, Agreste?” Kagami chuckled with a knowing smile.

“I um--I--” Adrien blushed before diving deep down into the ball pit himself.

“Kagami! Where are my hair ties?” He heard Marinette ask above.

“Probably sinking to the bottom of the pool.” Kagami said.

He felt the balls shift around him as Marinette burrowed under. He saw a little light nearing him. Marinette got closer to him shining her phone flashlight around the large expanse of white and gold balls.

“Hey there,” Marinette sighed as she pushed some more balls out of her way, “Have you seen my hair ties?”

“No.” he said. Even in the dim light under the balls he was sure she would be able to make out his blushing red face.

“Do you really need them?” he asked.

“Hm?”

“Well, I think your hair looks beautiful down.” he smiled. “But if you really want your hair ties I’ll help you look for them.”

“I um...I guess I can wait till I head home to grab more.” He was able to see a small blush rise on her cheeks.

“Marinette,” he shuffled forward so they were nose to nose. His hand reached out to run his fingers through her hair. She leaned into his touch. “I would very much like to kiss you now.”

She gave a little squeak that made his heart speed up. “I think I would like that too.”

“I found them!” Kagami shouted to them from above. “Lovebirds, surface! Did you drown down there?”

Marinette gave him a disappointed look. “We should go assure her we didn’t get lost down here.” She started climbing back to the surface.

“But--but--!” Adrien bit back a scream of frustration.

“Yo, kid,” Plagg whispered from his shirt pocket, “That’s gotta hurt. You okay?”

“Not now, Plagg.” he hushed back.

He made his way out of the ball pit and saw the two girls sitting at the edge of the pool. Marinette had her hair down still and her ties secured on her wrist for later. At least he still got to see her like this and he knew that if he were to kiss her it would be welcomed.

“That’s a grumpy face,” Kagami giggled at Adrien.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Adrien saw the piano sitting nearby and sat down at it. He started to play a melody almost as old as him. A song that always managed to calm him down as a child.

Marinette and Kagami stood at either side of the piano listening intently.

“Is this your lullaby?” Marinette asked.

“What gave it away?” he smirked.

She sat down next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. “The mood was ruined,” she whispered, “Try again another time.”

The sound of the elevator dinging sent the three teenagers under the piano. His bodyguard was back. Clearly he wasn’t giving up his search that easily.

“I got this.” Marinette grabbed a tea candle and using her hair tie as a slingshot sent the candle flying towards the other side of the roof.

While the Gorilla was distracted the trio ran for the elevator and took it down to the main floor and rushed out the doors before anyone could catch them. They were laughing like madmen as they booked it down the street. They ran as far as they could before collapsing onto a bench to rest.

“I think we’re far enough away that no one will be following us.” Adrien said.

“Aren’t you two going to get in trouble for ditching?” Marinette asked.

“Who cares.” Kagami was beaming, “It’s not everyday we can escape from their expectations.”

“So what should we do now?”

“We passed Andre’s ice cream stand on the bridge. Who’s up for some well deserved ice cream?” Adrien pointed behind them.

“Sounds great.” Marinette stood up to follow him. Kagami remained sitting. “Uh, Adrien, how about you go on ahead of us. I need to ask Kagami something.”

“Okay. Don’t be too long.” Adrien left.

Marinette looked back at Kagami. “Aren’t you gonna come get ice cream with us?”

“I don’t think I should.” Kagami regarded her with a fractured smile. “It was fun but I should be getting back to my mom before she freaks out.”

“But you just said--”

“And I feel weird acting as the third wheel to you and Adrien.”

“Kagami,” Marinette pulled her up off the bench, “We want you here with us because you’re our friend. Now stop pouting and come get some ice cream.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! Now get a move on, Tsurugi!” Marinette pulled her towards the bridge. Andre handed Adrien a tiered cone with two spoons. Blackberry and peppermint. Their custom flavor.

Kagami got an order of orange and chocolate with walnuts. They sat down by the river to eat their ice cream when Adrien’s phone started ringing.

“Chloe,” Adrien handed the ice cream to Marinette, “Hey, do you need us to come back to the hotel and bust you out?”

“Adrien! My parents!” Chloe sounded out of breath and terrified, “They were--AH!”

“Chloe? Chloe!” Adrien gripped his phone harder, “Chloe? Are you there? What happened? Chloe!”

But the line had gone dead.

“What’s wrong?” Marinette and Kagami looked to him concerned.

“I don’t know. Chloe sounded scared though. I think we should head back to the hotel.”

A crash from down the street stopped them. Abandoning their ice cream they peeked around the corner and saw what looked like a giant balloon floating down the street. It had two faces. One of which shot lasers from its eyes turning whatever it hit into a giant heart before the other face devoured it.

“I think Chloe’s parents got akumatized.” Marinette cursed their rotten luck. “Hawkmoth really never takes a day off does he?”

“The love in this city is delectable.” The masculine face said as it devoured another heart.

The feminine face locked her gaze on the three teenagers with a wicked smile. “Such lovely lovebirds on the horizon.”

“Run!” They took off running.

Marinette needed to get away and transform! But how? She couldn’t just abandon Adrien and Kagami either.

“Come back children!” The akuma rounded the corner after them. “Your love will make a great treat for Heart Hunter!”

As fast as they ran Heart Hunter kept gaining. It was by a miracle their laser eyes hadn’t hit them yet.

“Adrien! Marinette! To your right!” Kagami yelled at them. Coming up was an entrance to the subway.

Adrien and Marinette veered right but Kagami kept running forward. “KAGAMI!” Marinette yelled.

“Keep going!” Kagami yelled back. Heart Hunter shot her with their laser eyes and sucked her up.

“NO!” Adrien had to pull Marinette down the stairs so she didn’t go running off after them.

“Adrien--Kagami, she--”

“I know.” He kept pulling her along. He found a utility closet and shoved her inside. “Stay. You’ll be safe in here.”

“What about you?”

“It’ll be more dangerous if we’re together.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead, “I’ll find you after this is over. I promise.” he shut the door and ran.

“Oh Kagami,” Marinette balled her hands into fists to stop them from shaking. “Today was supposed to be fun.”

“We can still salvage it.” Tikki said. “But first you need to defeat the akuma.”

“I know.” Marinette took a deep breath. “Tikki, transform me!”

She ran out of the station and to the surface. She rushed after Heart Hunter. Not a minute later Chat Noir showed up next to her. “Afternoon, milady” He said, “Another day in paradise is it not?”

“It’s just wonderful.” Marinette sighed, “I swear if Hawkmoth ruins another fun outing for me I am going to flip out.”

“I’m almost scared to know what that would look like.” Chat Noir joked. “But that akuma sucked up one of my friends so maybe channel that anger into something productive.”

“I always do.” they saved as many people as they could from Heart Hunter’s rampage. But getting close enough to strike them was proving difficult.

Marinette used her lucky charm and a merry-go-round coin dropped into her palm. Fu.

“Chat Noir, I’ll be back soon. I’m gonna go get us some backup.” She told him. “You stay on Heart Hunter.”

“Got it, Ladybug.” Chat kept following Heart Hunter and Marinette turned to find Master Fu.

As she was leaping from rooftop to rooftop she passed by the hotel and saw Chloe on the roof yelling at her to give her a miraculous. Marinette wished she could but it was just too dangerous an option. Even if it wasn’t her parents that were akumatized.

Marinette landed on the ground near the park. She was about to detransform when she noticed a dark figure on the roof across from her. Mayura was following her.

Marinette took off again hoping to lose Mayura. It took a few sharp turns and hiding behind a stack of chimneys before she was certain she wasn’t being followed. She ran back to the merry-go-round.

“Master Fu I need your help!”

Master Fu gasped upon seeing her. “This costume is very cute miss but is it really fitting in this place?”

Marinette looked down and her blood ran cold as she noticed she had forgotten to detransform. “Crap! Move over!” She pushed her way into the merry-go-round. “I haven't been followed Master, I'm sure of it.”

Fu looked skeptical but nodded as he pulled out the miracle box and held it out to her. “Ladybug if you'd like to have a turn on the merry-go-round please pick your favorite horse. Once the mission is over you will retrieve the Miraculous and return it back to me.”

Marinette hovered over the bee miraculous before reaching for the fox pendant instead. “I’ll be back soon.”

She took off again and frantically knocked on Alya’s window. “Ladybug! This is so--”

“No time for fangirling!” She tossed the miraculous to Alya, “I need Rena now!”

She shut herself in Alya’s closet so she could refuel Tikki while Alya transformed.

After both were powered up again they were back to the air to find Chat Noir. Hopefully that cat hadn’t gotten hit by Heart Hunter while she was gone.

“There you are!” Chat breathed in relief when he saw the girls approach. “Rena, always nice to see you again.”

“You too alley cat.” Rena smirked.

“Focus!” Marinette sent her yo-yo to the sky, “Lucky Charm!”

A rolling pin dropped into her hands.

“Okay...I can figure this out.” she started searching for answers. “I think I got it! Chat Noir, I need your belt and when I say so you need to cataclysm that street lamp. Rena Rouge, you stick to the right and--”

Before Marinette could finish explaining her plan the giant head that was Heart Hunter disappeared and Mayor Bourgeois and his wife went hurtling towards the ground. They leapt into action and caught them before they could hit the ground.

“Uh, okay, correct me if I’m wrong but did Heart Hunter de-akumatize itself?” Chat asked.

“Why would Hawkmoth do that?” Rena looked a little disappointed to have missed out on kicking some akuma butt.

“I don’t know. I’ll be sure to ask Master Fu.” Marinette shrugged before sending the rolling pin back to the sky to right all the damages. “Gotta go, Chat Noir. See you for patrol tonight?”

“As always, Ladybug. Nice working with you again, Rena Rouge. Even if it was short lived.”

“Bye Chat Noir.” They took off in different directions. Once securely hidden in an alley Alya de-transformed and handed the fox pendant back.

Marinette went over a few alleys closer to the park before she de-transformed herself. She was not gonna make that same mistake twice.

She got back to the merry-go-round but immediately felt something was wrong. A mess had been left of the compartment inside and there was no sign of Master Fu anywhere. She tried calling him but it went straight to voicemail. Tikki tried to assure her that Fu was fine but Marinette couldn’t shake the feeling that if something had happened to him that it was her fault.

“You can’t blame yourself for something you don’t know you caused.” Tikki tried to soothe her.

“Who else could have caused it.” Marinette slumped to the ground, “It was me that forgot to de-transform. It was me that risked his discovery. It was me that Kagami sacrificed herself for. It’s me that everyone relies on. Me that everyone looks to save and protect them. I’m supposed to help people, defend the innocent and defeat evil. But look what’s happened? Fu is missing and it could very well be my fault. Chat Noir got akumatized because of my carelessness. What kind of a hero is that?”

“You saved Chat Noir and we don’t know what happened to Fu. Please Marinette, don’t cry.” Tikki pleaded. “I can’t bear it when you cry.”

She heard footsteps nearing her and closed her purse. She had hoped that it was Adrien or Fu or even Kagami or Alya that had foud her. When she looked up she was disheartened her company was a far cry from comforting.

“You look horrible.” Lila scanned Marinette with a revolted frown. “You upset cause someone trashed the merry-go-round? What are you? Six?”

“Leave me alone, Lila.” Marinette stood up and brushed herself off. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Don’t just walk away from me.” Lila cut her off from leaving. Her mask of anger cracking as she looked Marinette in the face. “Are you...are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” the lie felt heavy and bitter on her tongue.

“Sure.” Lila rolled her eyes. “That was believable.”

“What do you want from me, Lila?” Marinette snapped. Her sorrow shifting into rage. “You want the truth for once in your life? Fine by me! The truth is I am not fine! I am not fine at all! I am so tired! So tired of all the responsibilities and having to put up a front all the time!”

She could feel the angry wet tears streaming down her face but she was too miserable to care. “I am tired of never being able to be who I truly am! I am tired of having to lie to people I love! And I am tired of you! I am tired of having to act like your friend! I am tired of your manipulation! I am sick to death of you and I wish you would just drop off the face of the planet but you won’t!”

Marinette had been advancing on Lila until she had her backed against the park fence. “Is this what you wanted Lila? To see me unfiltered? Uncaring? To see what I look like when I finally break? Then congratulations! You’ve seen it! Now crawl back into whatever hole you slithered out of to come torment me and stay there!”

For once Lila was too stunned to speak much less enjoy Marinette’s freak out. Before she could gather her wits Marinette took a deep breath and left the park rubbing the tears from her eyes.

That was a very stupid thing to do. She knew that. As good as it felt to get all of that off her chest she also knew the ramifications of it would come to haunt her. Lila would find a way to use it against her somehow.

At the moment Marinette didn’t want to think about it. She just wanted to find Adrien and Kagami and cool down.

As she approached the spot where she had been with them last a movement on the roofs caught her attention. A bright yellow figure was dashing by with incredible speed and something in their arms followed by a dark purple figure.

Was that Chloe and Mayura?

“Tikki?” Marinette muttered solemnly, “Are you refueled?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Duty calls again.” Marinette sighed. She hid in an alley and transformed for the third time that day. Time to see what mess awaited her this time.


	20. Twenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe👏deserved👏a👏redemption!
> 
> Part two of fixing this finale!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/190527447876/for-better-or-worse-20

Marinette wasn’t in the utility closet where Adrien left her. He tried calling her but she didn’t answer and he was starting to get worried. He went back to where she and Kagami had last been but didn’t find his girlfriend there. Kagami was there but she hadn’t seen Marinette either.

“I mean Ladybug fixed everything so she has to be safe wherever she is.” Kagami assured him. “How about we split up and try to find her? I’ll got back to the hotel and you can check her house.”

“Good idea.” Adrien started running towards Marinette’s house when he saw a blur of yellow out of the corner of his eye. He was able to make out Mayura running shortly behind the yellow blur before Ladybug went zipping by as well.

“Or I can see what that’s about.” Adrien sighed as he went to transform again.

He caught up to Ladybug. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah.” Ladybug looked pissed. That wasn’t a good sign.

“Do we know what’s going on?” he asked.

“I have some theories. But I’d rather find out what’s going on instead of guessing.”

The duo followed Mayura and Chloe up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug launched herself like a slingshot onto the level of the ones they were chasing. Mayura ducked out of the way of Ladybug just in time and she landed next to Chloe who was powered up as Queen Bee.

“Chloe,” Ladybug looked at her, “What is going on?”

Mayura tried to attack them but Adrien kept her back.

“Well, Hawkmoth came to me with my miraculous and told me to join him after you chose fox girl over me again. Which by the way, it was my parents that had gotten akumatized! Why didn’t you pick me?”

“Chloe! I told you I couldn’t give you the bee miraculous again because everyone knows your identity. Your parents or not it is for your safety!” Ladybug snapped at her. “What I want to know is how you got the miraculous and the miracle box!”

“Right, sorry,” Chloe started again, “Hawkmoth came to me and tried to pull me over to his side. When I saw that he had my miraculous as well as a big box that looked like the tiny boxes you give out I figured he wasn’t supposed to have those so I devised a plan.”

“Girls!” Adrien yelled back at them. Mayura was really starting to wear on him and he wasn’t sure how long he was gonna be able to hold her off by himself. “I could use some assistance!”

“Keep talking I’m listening.” Ladybug said as she went to help Adrien.

“I pretended to go along with what Hawkmoth was saying so he would give me my miraculous back. After I transformed I wrestled this box away from him and ran.” Chloe said. “Last I saw him he was at the Trocadero Gardens with some old turtle guy.”

Adrien and Ladybug exchanged a single word. “Fu.”

Ladybug ran back to Chloe and opened the miracle box as she took some miraculous out. He was half aware of her fusing with another miraculous before closing the box again. She tossed the snake miraculous to Adrien and told him to fuse with it.

“I’ll be right back.” Ladybug took the box from Chloe, “You two keep Mayura busy. Show her no mercy.”

“You can count on us, Ladybug.” Chloe launched herself into the fight. Mayura tried to follow Ladybug but she had disappeared in a gust of wind. Literally. She turned into a wind dragon and disappeared over the skyline.

Though he couldn’t say anything at the moment Adrien was just so proud of Chloe. He knew how stressed she must have been earlier and to have her here fighting with them instead of turning against them filled him with unbridled glee. After this was all over he’d make sure to do something with her to show her how proud he was of his oldest friend.

Just as they were finally starting to wear down Mayura she turned tail and ran. “She has to be heading back to Trocadero Gardens.” Chloe said.

“Then we better make sure to meet her there.” Adrien and Chloe ran after her. It was a good thing he had longer stamina in this suit or else all this fighting and running would have killed him already.

\---

This is bad! This is bad! Everything about this is just bad!

Marinette was panicking which never ended well for her. Usually she was able to keep her mind straight and focus on the goal but her mind was too jumbled. She was still trying to process her freak out earlier and now Fu was captured and the safety of the rest of the miraculous rested on her. It was too much.

No. Keep calm. The freak out is a problem for Marinette. Ladybug’s main issue right now is getting the miracle box somewhere safe. She could bring it home but if it was discovered at her house then people would know she was Ladybug. So that was out.

She was passing over the skyline when she got an idea. Not her best but good enough at the moment. She dropped her wind form and landed on Alya’s balcony once again.

Alya looked up startled and confused. “Ladybug? You look different? Did you do a suit upgrade? It looks great!”

“Alya Cesaire, I have a very big favor to ask of you.” she held out the miracle box. “This is the miracle box. It contains all the miraculous. I need you to watch over it and keep it hidden and safe until I return. You cannot open it under any means or tell anyone you had it or let it leave your sight. Do you understand what I am telling you?”

“You want me to…” Alya stared at the box in wonder. “You trust me this much?”

“Even more.” Marinette smiled at her. “Can I trust this task to you?”

“I swear, Ladybug. I won’t let anything happen to it.” she held out her hands. “I will not open it. I will not let anyone know I ever had it. I promise.”

“I will be back as soon as possible.” Marinette gently placed the box in Alya’s arms. “Do not make me regret this, Alya.”

With Alya watching over the box Marinette went to rejoin her partners in the fight. Her anxiety over leaving the miracle box with Alya gnawed at her but she had to believe her best friend wouldn’t go against her instructions. She would never be able to forgive her if she did.

Marinette’s phone on her yo-yo started ringing. Chat let her know they were heading to Trocadero Gardens to confront Mayura and Hawkmoth. She picked up the pace.

Next problem was to rescue Fu.

It wasn’t hard to spot where the action was happening. Master Fu was powered up with the turtle miraculous and keeping himself safe inside a shield. He was safe but he wouldn’t be able to hold it forever.

“Don’t tell me I missed all the fun.” Marinette joked as she joined her team. “Chat Noir, what are we up against?”

“Quick assessment tells me that we have Hawkmoth, a winded Mayura, an immovable Master Fu, a sentimonster trying to break through Master Fu’s shield, and whatever akuma person Hawkmoth created while we were battling Mayura earlier.” Chat listed it off.

“Akuma? Where?”

“Over here, Ladybug.” A blur of dark yellow and black spots rushed past them to the top of the building Hawkmoth was standing on. “What’s wrong? Too slow?”

“That voice,” Chat said, “Lila, is that you...again?”

“I am Cheeter!” The cheetah printed villain cackled. “Too quick to be caught by the likes of you and your dumb cat and wanna be heroine!” She was far too at home playing the bad guy next to Hawkmoth.

“Yep that’s Lila.” Marinette sighed. She really shouldn’t be surprised but...no. She wasn’t surprised. She was gonna add this to the internal tally she’d been keeping of how many times Lila had been akumatized. This was the fourth time. Fifth if they were counting when she intentionally mislead Chat Noir away during the Oni-Chan fight.

“Do you think we can maybe get her deported from the city since she seems to be especially susceptible to akumas?” Marinette asked, half serious.

“If we did that we would also have to deport Mr. Ramier, and despite the allergy I don’t entirely mind when he’s akumatized.” Chat Noir shrugged. “But it is nice to dream.”

“Do we have a plan?” Chloe asked.

“Get up there, free Fu, and show these villains what us heroes are capable of.”

The trio launched to the roof. Marinette tackled the giant butterfly creature and lassoed it with her yo-yo. Chat and Chloe were trying to advance on Hawkmoth and Mayura but Cheeter was making it difficult to get close what with her super speed. Even so she couldn’t focus on both so settled for keeping Chloe occupied while Adrien battled with Hawkmoth.

Just as it was looking like everything was going their way everything went wrong.

Marinette was thrown off the sentimonster and landed hard on the ground. Her chin struck the floor first and her brain buzzed with the impact. Chloe was getting worn out trying to keep up with Cheeter’s fast jabs. Chat Noir was struck back like a ball by Hawkmoth and flew off the side of the building.

“How very like you heroes.” Hawkmoth drawled walking closer to where Marinette was struggling to get her feet back under her, “Risking everything and facing impossible odds to save one man.”

“We’re not saving one man. We’re saving all of Paris, the whole world, from the chaos you create.” Marinette fought through the pain in her head and stood, “This ends today, Hawkmoth.”

“Yes. It does.” He pointed at her with his cane.

Chat returned to the roof out of breath but determination in his eyes. “What do we do?”

Marinette took the sword off her back and lowered herself into a fighting stance. “I’ll focus on Hawkmoth. You use your Second Chance to help Chloe immobilize Cheeter.”

“On it. Second Chance!” Chat Noir swiped his miraculous.

He broke to join Chloe while Marinette stood against Hawkmoth. For a moment neither moved. Good and evil facing each other once again.

Marinette made her move. She charged at Hawkmoth swiping at him with her sword which he dodged with grace. It was as if his bout with Chat Noir had done nothing. He was unflabble as ever.

Again and again she advanced on him trying to back him into a corner that he narrowly repeatedly dodged. There had to be a way around him. If she could just get in one good hit!

That’s when her eyes drifted to Mayura. She was knelt on the ground as if she would pass out any second. Master Fu was still being assaulted by the sentimonster. If she could grab her miraculous that would be one less problem and hopefully Hawkmoth would slip up in the confusion.

She ducked under one of his attacks and threw herself fully at Mayura.

“Get away from her!” Hawkmoth grabbed Marinette before she could do more than make a desperate grab for the brooch on her chest.

She wrestled against his hold but he had her arms pinned to her sides. Then his free had touched her earring.

Marinette thrashed harder, kicking her legs back and butting her head back against his face. He pulled off one of her earrings and she could feel her transformation slowly starting to melt away.

“Chat Noir!” she screamed.

“Ladybug!” Chat ran to her and jumped on Hawkmoth’s back. His staff was pressed against his neck pulling him back. “Let her go!”

Hawkmoth made a choking noise as Chat Noir pressed his staff harder against his neck. Hawkmoth let go of Marinette to reach for his neck. Her earring clattering out of his hand. She grabbed it and put it back on.

Chat Noir was thrown off Hawkmoth’s back. He skidded across the roof till he was at the foot of where Chloe stood with an immobilized Cheeter.

“Ladybug, catch!” Chloe tossed what looked like a bracelet to Marinette.

Marinette quickly broke it and purified the akuma that came out. Lila’s transformation melted away.

“No!” Lila stomped her foot. “You stupid heroes!”

“Yeah, we’re the worse.” Chloe rolled her eyes. “I’ll be right back!” She grabbed a struggling Lila and jumped off the roof. 

Now that the akuma was gone the only threat left to deal with was the sentimonster and Hawkmoth. The fusion was taking its toll though and she unfused with Longg and Chat Noir unfused with Sass. Chloe zipped back to the roof and readied herself to fight.

Back to basics. “Lucky Charm!” she threw her yo-yo to the sky and a small key ring dropped into her hands.

She searched for what to do but couldn’t find anything to help. Hawkmoth saw her confusion and began to laugh.

“It seems you’re out of options Ladybug.” Hawkmoth cackled, “Once my sentimonster breaks through the guardian’s shield he will be mine and all your secrets and all your fears will be mine to know. The miracle box will be back in my possession by the end of the day.”

“Ladybug,” Fu drew her attention to him. His old weathered eyes brimming with tears. “Know I am sorry.”

“Master?”

He dropped his arms from protecting his shield and shouted to the sky. “I, Wang Fu, hereby relinquish the miracle box and name Ladybug the new guardian!”

“Master no!” Marinette tried to stop him but it was too late.

The shield surrounding him shattered and he collapsed back to the ground. In a flash of light his miraculous wore off and Wayzz appeared.

“No!” Hawkmoth bellowed. He stormed at them in a rage. “Where is it? Where have you taken the miracle box?”

“You’re only thinking of asking this now?” Chloe rolled her eyes, “You’re ridiculous Hawkmoth, utterly ridiculous.”

“You’ve lost Hawkmoth,” Chat grinned, “The miracle box is safe under the watch of Ladybug. You’ll never find it again!”

“Yes I will. You will slip up one day, Ladybug. And I will be there to reap the benefits of your incompetence.” With his back against a wall Hawkmoth collected Mayura and the two sped off into streets.

“I’ll get them. You check on Fu.” Chat raced off after them.

Marinette dashed to Fu’s side. “Master?” She shook him, “Master are you alright?”

“Ladybug?” he sat up. “Apologies for frightening you. I could see no other options.”

“Why, master? Why did you make me the guardian? I’m not ready!”

“I am sorry to hand you this burden, Ladybug. It seemed like the safest option. Hawkmoth knows who I am. He captured me once and he could do so again. I will not risk the safety of the miraculous and its holders anymore. Forgive me.” He bowed his head, “But I firmly believe you will make an excellent guardian.”

“But--but--”

Chat came back to the roof shaking his head. “I lost them. How is Master Fu?”

“Chat Noir,” Fu motioned him closer. “I know we did not train much together but I know that as long as you remain the same selfless, loyal, and brave man I met all that time ago you will become an even greater partner.”

“What’s going on? Why are you talking like you’re leaving us?” Chat asked.

“Because he is.” Marinette was trying not to break down again and reached for Chat Noir’s hand.

“You two make an incredible team. Do not lose that.” He smiled at them. “I have faith that you will grow into the best holders this world has ever seen. As long as you stay together.”

“We will, master. We will.”

“Good.” he nodded, “Now can someone get me off this roof?”

“You’re about to transform back. I’ll take him.” Chat helped Fu up. “Good job today, girls.”

The three heroes bumped fists together. “Good job.”

“Oh wait, master, the key ring?” she held up her spotted charm.

“Yes. I almost forgot.” He took out a similar key ring and handed it to her. “Something waits for you, Master Ladybug.”

She sent the spotted key ring into the air as the ladybugs went about repairing the damages.

Chat Noir left with Fu. At the same time Chloe’s transformation wore off. She took the comb out of her hair and held it out to Ladybug.

“I believe this belongs to you.”

“You did an amazing thing today, Chloe.” Marinette took the comb. “Without you the miracle box would have been lost to Hawkmoth. You’re a real hero.”

“I know I’m not always the best at making the right choices but I am trying to be. I want to be worthy of being called a hero. Not just as Queen Bee but as Chloe as well.” she cupped Pollen in her hands, “And I understand if you won’t be able to call on me anymore. I love being Queen Bee but I don’t want to risk the safety of the people I care about.”

“That is already a huge step you’ve taken. Wanting to do better, acknowledging it, and taking action to correct your own wrongs is the beginning of something bigger than you can imagine.” Marinette stepped forward and hugged her, “And who knows, maybe, if we’re in a dire situation like today again, Queen Bee can reign once more.”

“Thank you, Ladybug.”

Marinette’s earrings started to beep more insistently.

“Grab on. I gotta get going.” Marinette grabbed Chloe and set her down on the ground. “You did great! I’m proud of you! Bug out!”

Marinette dropped down into an alley and de-transformed. She took a few minutes to breathe and let Tikki recharge before she went to collect the miracle box from Alya.

“Hey Alya,” Marinette sat down on the balcony edge, “Sorry for forcing this on you out of nowhere but I was in a real tight spot and--”

“Ladybug! I am so sorry! I swear I didn’t do it!” Alya held out what looked like a giant red and black spotted egg. “I was sitting here with the box and suddenly it started glowing and spinning and it became this!”

“No! Alya! It’s okay!” Marinette took the shell, “It was supposed to do that. You’re fine. You didn’t do that.”

“Oh thank goodness,” Alya’s shoulders dropped, “I was freaking out and thinking you were gonna kill me for doing whatever it is that just happened.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t know this was gonna happen when I left it with you.” She tucked the shell under her arm. “But thank you for watching over it. I owe you one. Bug out!”

Marinette quickly went home and stashed the shell of the miracle box in her room. She will deal with that later. Right now she just wanted to power down and find her friends.

She stepped out of her house to find him and saw him running down the street towards the bakery.

“Adrien!” Marinette called out to him.

“Marinette!” Adrien started running faster.

She tackled him in a hug sending them both to the ground. She knew the miraculous cure fixed everything but it never stopped her from being worried about him. They sat up but Marinette wasn’t letting go of him and kept herself firmly planted in his lap.

“I was so worried! You shoved me in a closet and I had no idea where you had gone or if you got hit by Heart Hunter.” She rested her forehead against his.

“I’m sorry. I just didn’t want the akuma to get you.” His eyes searched her face. “It’s been a long day.”

She drew in a deep breath. All the events of the day weighed on her heavily but sitting here in Adrien’s arms made them feel a little further away. Her head dropped to rest on his shoulder. “That’s an understatement.” she muttered.

“And I know it may be poorly timed but there’s only one thing that I want to do now.” Adrien picked her head back up.

“What’s that?” her heart started to beat faster as his eyes searched her face.

“Just this.”

Then he kissed her. Not a kiss on the cheek or the forehead but a real kiss. It was deeply felt all the way down to her toes and sent zaps of electricity off in her brain. It was passion. Like he had found what he had been meant to be doing all his life. And he wasn’t going to stop.

When he pulled away Marinette was dazed but smiling wider than she ever thought possible. Adrien’s own smile was shy as if he wasn’t sure the act had been welcomed or not.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since our first date.” he whispered, his face turning pink.

Marinette couldn’t speak. The kiss may have actually melted her brain. She had dreamed about actually kissing Adrien for a long time but actually doing it had sent her somewhere almost spiritual.

“Doodle bug? Did I misread something or--”

Marinette cut him off with another deep kiss. She had both her hands in his hair pulling him close. Adrien was caught off guard at first but quickly returned it holding her tighter as they embraced.

This time they were a little out of breath when they broke apart. Marinette couldn’t help it. He was too cute for his own good.

“I guess that’s one way to answer.” Adrien chuckled. “I’m just never going to stop kissing you now. I hope you know that.”

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.” Marinette held onto him a little longer. After such a stressful day everything finally felt peaceful.

“I’m really tired.” She yawned, “Want to come upstairs and take a nap with me?”

“Yes please.” She hadn’t noticed it before but Adrien looked just as tired as she was.

They climbed up to the apartment and settled in on Marinette’s bed. As they started to drift off Adrien gave her lips another tentative peck. Marinette closed her eyes and let her troubles fade away in his embrace. She could get used to this.


	21. Twenty One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug, full time hero, part time couples therapist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/190801661686/for-better-or-worse-21

“Sweetheart, are you up here?” a voice asked followed by the sound of a door creaking open.

“Oh, looks like she’s napping.” another voice whispered.

“Also looks like she’s not alone.”

“Awe! They are just adorable aren’t they?”

“Let’s leave them be.” The door clicked shut again.

Adrien had awoken a few minutes before but had yet to open his eyes. He was much too comfortable to leave just yet. Not when he had his petite girlfriend wrapped in his arms in her warm bed. Not when he knew there was harsh world right outside of this pocket of peace. Right now nothing could hurt them. After the stress of the day he didn’t want to let it go so fast.

He would certainly have a lot to jot down in his journal later. Outside of using it to vent his stress he had gotten into the habit of writing down other events. Funny stories Nino told him. Jokes Alya made. Kagami’s teasing when they fenced. The jam sessions he had with Kitty Section. Patrols with Ladybug. And pretty much any moment he spent with Marinette.

His eyes cracked open and peered down at Marinette. Her face relaxed and lips parted slightly as she snored. Adrien gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and she stirred turning over in his arms and burying her face in his chest still asleep.

He wondered if Ladybug was this naturally cute when she was asleep.

No! He pushed the thought out of his head. Chastising himself for thinking about it.

Adrien had locked those thoughts up when he started dating Marinette. But every once in a while they would drift in again unannounced. Usually when he was spending time with Marinette. For a split second he would find himself wondering what it would be like to have Ladybug in her spot instead and he would kick himself for thinking it.

He was with Marinette. He is happy with Marinette. Marinette is his girlfriend. He finally kissed her for goodness sake! He should not be thinking about Ladybug during these moments! He had thought that when he started this relationship all his feelings for Ladybug would stay locked away as a nice memory. Yet they kept coming back!

What was even worse was when one of those thoughts would pop into his head and following it would be the worry that he had made some sort of mistake. A small nagging feeling that maybe he shouldn’t have agreed to date Marinette. The guilt it created made him sick.

He liked Marinette. He really did! He was happy in their relationship and very much wanted to keep it going and grow with her personally and romantically. He was proud and happy to be her boyfriend.

Then why did these thoughts keep coming up? Was it just intrusive thoughts? Or was it his heart trying to tell him something? Was he being unfaithful to Marinette by having these thoughts? If he never acted on them it shouldn’t be bad. But thinking them in the first place couldn’t be good either. What if his heart really wasn’t in this and he was unconsciously stringing Marinette along? That’s the one thing she was worried about most when they talked about dating. He didn’t want to hurt her by proving it true. But if these feelings weren’t concrete then what? He should stay in a relationship he wasn’t as invested in for her sake? Halfway is no way to love someone.

“If you keep making that face it’ll stick that way.” Marinette’s sleepy voice pulled him back to reality before his thoughts could snowball further.

“Oh hey, did I wake you?” Adrien asked. He crushed his earlier thoughts way down and focused on Marinette in the present.

“No. You were so lost in your head you didn’t even notice me staring at you.” She smiled sheepishly. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” he traced the curve of her face. “Do you know how long we’ve been napping?”

She shrugged. “No idea. But I can check.” she wiggled away from him as she searched for her phone in the blankets. “Almost two hours.”

“Oh geez.” Adrien scrambled for his own phone. “Father is going to kill me.”

“I figured that since you already ran away from the anniversary party you were already dead.”

“Yeah but that was before a double akuma attack.” Adrien cringed as he saw the many missed calls and text messages on his phone. “I sense that when I get home I will not be allowed out for a long time.”

“But what about our dance lesson this week?”

“I’ll see what I can do but I think we may have to skip. If I know my father the only way I’ll be going anywhere besides school is via a screen.” he flopped back against the bed.

“At least we had fun while it lasted.” Marinette smiled. “Too bad we didn’t get to eat our ice cream though.”

“The real disappointment about today.”

“Kagami!” Marinette gasped. “I didn’t even try texting Kagami after the akuma! She must be worried out of her mind!”

“Oh crap, I didn’t even think about that.”

Marinette texted Kagami to see if she was okay. While she was doing that Adrien hopped out of the bed and started looking for his shoes. He didn’t want to go home but he had already tested his luck all day so he had to get going now before his father blew a gasket.

“Kagami is safe back at home with her mom.” Marinette jumped down from her bed. She looked at the shoes in his hand with a frown. “Awe, are you leaving?”

“I do need to go home some time.”

“Nooooo!” she hugged him. “Stay. I have a warm bed, snacks, and cuddles.”

“You have no idea how much it physically pains me that I have to say no.” Adrien slipped his shoes on and grabbed his coat. “Next time I’m allowed out of the house maybe.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

Marinette walked him to the door.

“I’ll see you at school, barring father doesn’t pull me out again.” He told her.

“Can I just say that I hate that he literally threatens to cut you off from the outside world for the sole fact that you have a social life.” Her face was pulled into a disgusted frown.

“I wanna call it overprotective but truth be told I think he just likes being as dramatic as possible.” Adrien forced a laugh. “Goodbye kiss?”

Marinette nodded enthusiastically causing a real laugh to escape his past his lips. He pulled her in close for a sweet kiss goodbye before taking off towards his house.

As expected when he got back to the mansion his father was waiting at the top of the stairs to berate him for disappearing from the party and not answering his phone. Adrien kept a neutral face as he quietly apologized. He didn’t mention the part about being out with Kagami and Marinette the entire time. His permission to have a social life and a love life hung by a thread. Even if his father knew he had escaped with the girls that didn’t mean he knew he had spent the last recent hours snuggled in bed napping with one. The last thing he needed was for his father to declare Marinette a bad influence and forbid him from seeing her.

As Adrien expected his father did ban him from leaving the house for anything other than school, photoshoots, and fencing lessons. Which meant his dance lesson date with Marinette was off.

Soon it was dark out and Adrien transformed to go on patrol.

If he was hoping patrol would help still his racing mind he was dead wrong. The moment he saw Ladybug all his guilty thoughts and feelings from earlier emerged from the depths of his mind. He tried to shake them off but it was of no use. Confusion consumed him and Ladybug must have taken notice.

They had stopped at the top of the Eiffel Tower for a quick breather. Adrien sat at the edge with his legs dangling over the side and gazed out over the city.

“Such a sour face.” Ladybug hovered over him with a copy of his grimace. “What is going on in that head of yours?”

“Guilt.”

“Because of what happened today with Hawkmoth and Mayura?” She plopped herself down next to him.

“No. Personal guilt having to do with my girlfriend.”

“First fight?”

“No. What is happening is that I--let me start by saying that I really like my girlfriend. Okay? I am so happy with her and I finally got to kiss her too but…” He sighed, “Even though I like her and want to be with her I keep thinking...of...you.”

“Chat…” She laid a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t understand why!” he exclaimed, “Cause I still admire you and I know I can’t expect my feelings for you to disappear overnight. But why do you keep popping into my head when I’m with her? Why can’t I be faithful to my girlfriend?”

“Oh boy…” Ladybug drew her knees up to her chest. “Chat Noir, these thoughts that you have, what are they exactly? What is their nature?”

“I’ll be sitting with my girlfriend and out of nowhere I’ll wonder what it would be like if you were sitting in her place. And then I’ll start worrying over if I made a mistake in dating her because maybe I was just using her as a rebound or if my feelings aren’t real and I’m faking it to fill some void. Every time it happens I can feel the guilt eating me alive!” He could feel he was two seconds from spiraling out of control.

“Calm down, listen to me.” Ladybug spoke softly, “Do you ever wish that it was me instead of her? Like really wish that it was me that you were dating instead of your girlfriend?”

“No. I’m happy with her. She’s great.” Adrien murmured.

“Are you comfortable being romantic and intimate with her or does it feel like she’s just a friend you can make-out with?”

“I’ve been wanting to kiss her cute face for weeks now.” he chuckled, “I have no problem being romantic with her. I love thinking of dates and presents and pet names for her. When I can’t give her something to show how I feel I’m always telling her that I like her. I think she may actually be getting tired of hearing me call her a cutie pie everyday.”

“One last question.” Ladybug smiled at him, “If I were to confess my sincere, undying, romantic love for you right here and now, would you dump her so you could date me?”

“Is this rhetorical or are you actually confessing your love for me?” He smirked.

She gave him a slight smack to the back of his head. “Just answer the question.”

“I wouldn’t trade what I have with her for anything in the world. Not even you.” Adrien surprised himself by how honest a statement it was.

“Then you don’t need to be so worried.” Ladybug ruffled his hair, “These thoughts aren’t you being unfaithful. Expecting to show absolutely zero interest in any other human being for your entire life because you are with someone else isn’t real. Cause you are going to be attracted to other people throughout your life. I always told you I was in love with someone else but I would be a liar if I said I never once thought about it being you taking me out to the movies instead of him. You can be attracted to someone and have feelings for someone but as long as you’re not acting on them and at the end of the day you are happy with who you are with, I think that’s fine.”

“I can be attracted to other people but still be faithful to my girlfriend.”

“Exactly.”

“How is it you know so much about relationships?”

“I have some really loving parents who have given me a lot of dating and relationship advice. They know I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic and wanted me to understand that real relationships aren’t what they are like in movies. They’re messy and hard and sometimes even boring. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t wonderful too.”

“Sounds like you got some pretty amazing parents.”

“They’re pretty cool when they’re not trying to embarrass me.” She laughed. “In all seriousness I’m gonna give you a saying my parents told me, _‘Love is not just a feeling. Love is a great factor of many things. But the most important thing to remember is that a relationship is two independent people choosing to help make each other the best versions of themselves.’_ ”

“That is some solid advice.”

“Love is nuanced.” She stood up and helped Adrien to his feet. “Even if what you’re feeling right now isn’t comfortably called love, it doesn’t make it any less real or any less complicated and special.”

“I feel comfortable saying that I love you, though, Ladybug.”

“And I love you too, Chat Noir. Platonically, and maybe a little physically.” she teased.

“And that’s perfectly okay. Right?”

“Right.” She stifled a yawn, “I took a nap earlier and I am still dead tired. What do you say to cutting patrol early tonight? I think we earned it after everything that happened today.”

“You go on home, I think I’m gonna stay out a little longer.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I have some things I need to think of on my own.”

“Alright, don’t go overthinking yourself into a tizzy. Have a nice night, Chat.” She gave him a fist bump before leaping off into the night.

Adrien stared long after she had vanished over the skyline. A small, curious smile curled on his face. Love is a nuanced thing.


	22. Twenty Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe is smarter than she seems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/611244207445868544/for-better-or-worse-22

It was a solemn day when Marinette saw Master Fu off. It wasn’t long they were able to talk but he assured her that she would be a great Guardian despite her own worries. He gave her the new number to call him on in case of emergencies and instructed her to give a copy to Chat Noir as well.

Marinette waved to him as he boarded the train out of France. She stopped at the locker he had told her about and unlocked it with his key. Inside was his old gramophone and a flashdrive.

She dropped the items off at her house before rushing to make it on time to meet her friends. When she got there everyone from her class were sitting along the Seine eating ice cream or playing music and chatting. Even Chloe had joined. And unfortunately so did Lila.

Marinette hadn’t heard from her since she told her off. She calmly walked past her and got an ice cream from Andre. She passed by everyone and sat down next to Luka. Adrien and Kagami had been barred from coming which was a shame. Not a surprise though considering they had snuck away for hours during the party.

“Hey Marinette,” Luka said when she sat down. “No Adrien today?”

“No. His rebellion the other day cost him social outings for at least a week.” Marinette sighed. “What’s going on with you? We haven’t really talked since…”

“You started dating Adrien.”

“Yeah. He mentioned that you two talked and I want you to know I never meant to avoid you or ignore you. I knew how you felt and I got worried about how that would change our friendship because I treasure you as a friend and--I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Marinette. I was never mad at you. I was more upset that you think I would ever want to stop being your friend because you followed your heart.”

“Make room!” Chloe wedged herself between Marinette and Luka. “Dupain-Cheng, we need to talk.”

“Chloe!” Marinette yelped, “What are you doing? I was talking to Luka.”

“Yeah but what I have to say is more important.”

“I’m gonna get myself some ice cream.” Luka stood up. “Give you two some space.”

“But--” Luka was already gone. Dejected Marinette turned back to Chloe. “What is it?”

“If you haven’t noticed Lila has been glaring at you since the moment you arrived.”

“So? She hates me. That’s nothing new.” She shrugged.

“Yes. But she’s doing it openly, where anyone can see her.”

“And?”

“She’s not hiding the fact that she’s mad at you. Your _‘friend.’_ ”

“Oh…” Marinette risked a glance at where Lila sat. Lila caught her watching and clenched her ice cream so hard she cracked the cone in half.

“What did you do that she is so ticked off that she isn’t doing your fake friend arrangement anymore?” Chloe asked.

“I may have lashed out very harshly the other day.” Marinette poked at her ice cream with her spoon. “I was having a bad day and she came up to antagonize me and things got ugly fast.”

“You emotional idiot!” Chloe seethed, “I am trying to do better and then you go along and screw everything up--” She took a moment to compose herself once more. “Nevermind that. We need to fix this before she gets out of hand.”

“I appreciate the initiative but I think it may be for the best to call off the fake friendship. No matter what we are always at the other’s throat. I can only see this ending badly if we try to persist.”

“Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe put an awkward hand on her shoulder. Marinette gave her a confused look and she dropped it again. “I will begrudgingly admit that you are not as stupid as you dress. You won the title of class president for a reason. But I know manipulation. And I know how fragile a reputation is. One word and even the squeakiest of clean reputations is irredeemable. Which is why you are going to listen to me.”

“You have my attention.”

“Good. I have a foolproof plan that will not only restore the tattering remains of the charade you created with that brat but will also work as great reconnaissance.”

“What is it you had in mind?”

\---

“A sleepover?” Adrien’s shocked voice came over her phone speaker. “Chloe wants you to have a sleepover with Lila?”

“Yep.” Marinette wasn’t stoked about the idea but it would do well to get some inside information. Maybe something she left laying about at her house or maybe talk to her mom a bit. Nothing to arise suspicion of course.

“And you think Lila is just going to agree to allow you to go to her house for a whole night?”

“She already did.” Marinette paced around her room. “I asked her during ice cream this afternoon in front of everyone. They all heard me ask so she was forced to accept. She did try to wiggle out of it by wanting to make sure my parents were okay with it. I called them and put them on speaker to ask them as well to which they did. So now we’re both stuck with this whether we like it or not.”

“And you really think this is going to help?”

“I don’t know if I’ll find anything at her house but at the very least it should be convincing enough that our deal to pretend to be friends is still on.”

“You didn’t tell me about this fight you had with Lila before. Why were you so upset in the first place?”

Marinette felt a great weight in her chest. She wanted to tell Adrien everything. Lying to him was the worst feeling in the world. But she couldn’t risk anything. Especially now that she’s the Guardian. There was just too much to worry about without adding secret identities and her own personal dilemmas with her identity and self confidence.

“It was nothing really. A bad day turned worse because of Lila harassing me and I just lost it for a minute.”

“Is there anything I can do to help? Even if it’s just being an open ear to vent to I’ll listen.”

“Thanks, sunshine. I’m fine now but I appreciate the offer.” Marinette stared down at her phone. “I know you’re on lockdown right now but I wouldn’t say no to some therapy cuddles right about now.”

“When I’m allowed out again I’ll be sure to make up for it tenfold.”

“You are racking up a big cuddle debt mister.” 

“Well darn,” Adrien sighed dramatically, “Is there interest?”

“Yes. For every hour of cuddles missed you owe an additional three kisses.” Marinette laughed.

“It is steep but if it is the price I must pay then so be it.” Adrien said making her laugh. “In the meantime you can just make-out with my statue at the wax museum.”

“Why would I want to make-out with that?”

“Well you already tried to once if I recall--”

“Adrien!”

“Ha ha!” Adrien laughed, “You’re blushing right now aren’t you, doodle bug?”

“I am not!” Lies.

“Sure…” He drew the word out, “I bet you aren’t.”

“Y’know what? I got some work I need to get started on. So I will talk to you later.”

“Awe, don’t hang up on me for teasing.”

“I’m not. I actually do have some important stuff I need to get done today.” She looked over at her closet, “But I will talk to you later. Okay?”

“Okay.” Adrien conceded. “Don’t overwork yourself, my star.”

“I won’t. And try not to go stir crazy sitting in your house, my prince.”

They said their goodbyes and Marinette hung up.

She wasn’t lying when she said she had work to do but the work presented was not a design or homework. It was something much more important.

Marinette went around her room drawing all the curtains closed and locking all the door and windows. She probably checked to make sure they were locked five times before she finally dug into her closet and pulled out the red and black spotted shell. All the miraculous were locked in there and she was the only one that could get them out.

Now was the time.

She pressed her hand on top of the shell. “Open for I am Ladybug, Guardian of the Miraculous.”

For a moment nothing happened. Then the shell began to glow. It grew in intensity until she was forced to look away or risk being blinded. When she looked back the shell was gone replaced with what looked like a hat box. The clasp at the front had a little lock shaped like a Ladybug on it.

Maybe it was an inherit Guardian ability but she leaned close and pressed the spots on the ladybug lock’s back in a random order. It unlocked and the lid popped open.

Inside the hat box wasn’t the original miracle box like she was expecting. It looked more like a pink and white flower with another smaller pink and white flower on top. Kinda like a cake but it felt like plastic.

This was strange. She turned the knob at the top and the petals of the flowers opened up to reveal the miraculous laying neat and safe in the small compartments. She lifted up on the knob and the lid on top came off to reveal the other main seven compartments for the other miraculous.

She put the lid back down and turned the knob the other way to close the compartments before placing it back in the hatbox. She secured the lock once more and set it inside her closet.

It seemed that the miracle box took on different forms depending on the Guardian in charge of it. An ancient wooden Chinese box for Fu. A pretty flower candy container for Marinette. Seemed fitting enough.

“It became real, didn’t it?” Tikki hovered over Marinette’s shoulder. “Becoming the Guardian. Opening the miracle box for the first time on your own like this.”

“I can handle this...right?”

Tikki rubbed her head against Marinette’s cheek affectionately. “I know you can.”

“I feel like I still don’t know anything.”

“Experience is the best teacher.”

“Right…” But what should she do if her experience ends badly? Lives depend on her. That’s not something that can be forgiven so easily. Learning to be a good Guardian is nothing like learning how to sew. She can’t just go back and try something again if she messes up.

“Master Fu also left you a flashdrive.” Tikki noticed her overthinking and tried to divert her attention. “How about we look at what was on it.”

“Good idea.” Marinette fished the flashdrive out of her bag and plugged it into her computer. A new file opened up. It was the grimoire. All the translations from the book were right at her fingertips. Thank goodness.

“Tikki, I need to ask you something important and it is imperative you answer honestly.”

“What would you like to know?”

“Did Master Fu ever teach Chat Noir any of this? Any at all?”

“That seems more like a question for Chat Noir.”

“I know that Master Fu visited Chat Noir after I pleaded with him to. But I don’t know if they’ve had any interaction after that. Does Chat Noir know anything about this stuff? Did Fu ever mention anything like that to you?”

“No. He never did. Why do you ask?”

“Because Chat is my partner. We share the responsibility of protecting Paris. Just because I am the official Guardian doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be informed. It doesn’t mean that he should know so little about his own powers.”

“The more people that know the greater the risk.”

“It’s a good thing I trust him then.”

“I know he’s trustworthy but if something were to happen--”

“Then it would be nice if my partner knew what to do if I got put out of commission. I will keep the miraculous and guard them with my life as the Guardian. But the knowledge of the grimoire should be shared with the boy who is willing to guard me with his life.”

“How are you going to teach him though? It’s not like he can stop by for study sessions like you did with Fu.”

“That does present a problem. But for right now,” Marinette disconnected the drive, “I say we call it a day. I’m gonna grab some cookies, any special requests?”

“Chocolate chip please!” Tikki wiggled happily at the mention of sweets.

“Got it.” Marinette went downstairs. She stopped on the stairs once she was away from Tikki and touched her earrings. She was going to get this information to Chat one way or another. Her partner was owed that much.


	23. Twenty Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of sleeping going on at this sleepover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/611906116110155776/for-better-or-worse-23

“You just had to tell everyone we were having a sleepover, didn’t you?” Lila groaned as she let Marinette into her apartment.

Marinette wasn’t thrilled about this either but she was trying to look at it positively. Lila on the other hand was taking this all with a big dose of anger. Joy.

“I don’t see why you’re making such a big deal about this. We take some pictures of us pretending to have fun, I camp out on the couch, and no one is the wiser.” Marinette looked around the apartment. It was about as standard as apartments get. Connected living room and kitchen. A couple stools at the island for a table. A hall that led to the bedrooms.

All over the walls were pictures. Mostly of Lila through stages of her life. A couple of grandparents and extended family sprinkled in but mainly Lila. Like it or not Lila did make a cute baby. Of course most babies made cute babies.

Marinette set her bag down near the couch.

“You don’t actually think you’re staying the night do you?” Lila scoffed at her.

“Did you forget that we told my parents? They aren’t expecting me back until morning. If I return early they’ll know something is up.”

“Just don’t go home then.”

“Where else am I supposed to go? I don’t exactly have money for a hotel room.”

“Not my problem.” Lila started to saunter back to her room.

“Fine, then I suppose I’ll just pop over to Alya’s and let her know about all of this.” Marinette said making Lila stop, “Ooh or better yet, Adrien’s dad isn’t home, I’m sure he could sneak me in for the night if you truly don’t want this getting out.”

Lila took a moment to think before giving up. “After we take our pics stay in the living room and don’t bother me.”

“No problem.” Marinette changed into her pajamas and walked int Lila’s room. It was pretty messy with papers, cups, and other knicknacks scattered across the floor and desk. She had a collection of masks hung on her walls. Oh the irony.

Lila was sitting on her bed in her own pajamas and arranging a scene of snacks and games. Her hair was out of its usual low tied ponytails and instead pulled back and braided down her back.

“What are you staring at?” Lila asked.

“You ever consider cutting your hair?” Marinette sidled up to Lila on the bed. “You have the face shape for it and something like a wavy bob would make your whole look a lot lighter. Be a more playful and easygoing style.”

“Sure. I’m about to take style advice from little miss pigtails.” Lila rolled her eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”

Was it so much for her to not be terrible for five minutes?

“Did you tell anyone about what happened?” Marinette asked. “My freak out a couple days ago?”

“Is that why you’re here?” Lila smirked, “Scared someone will hear that you aren’t the perfect level headed class president everyone thinks you are? What was it you had screamed at me? You were tired of putting up a front? Tired of lying to everyone? What is it that you have to lie about?”

“It doesn’t matter. I was talking in anger. Over-exaggerated my own problems.”

“You know, being a long time liar such as I am I can spot one pretty well. You may have been talking in anger but you were not exaggerating. When someone is as emotionally charged in such an instance as you were what they are saying is usually truthful.”

“And what makes you think I would ever tell you? So you can blackmail me?”

“I thought we were friends.”

“Only on camera.” Marinette pulled out her phone. “Speaking of,”

“How many people know how much anger you actually hold? Anyone? Does your dear Adrien know how badly you want to go absolutely ape-shit every day?”

“I do not want to go _ape-crap_ every day.” Marinette tapped away on her phone in an effort to look busy.

“Oh you are so cute. So committed to the role you won’t even swear.” Lila covered Marinette’s phone. “Like you said, we’re only friends on camera. The masks can come down. What drives you insane, Marinette?”

“Besides you?”

“I only help. What is the driving force?”

“A secret. Something I can’t tell anyone. Not my parents. Not Alya. Not even Adrien. It stresses me out daily. Like a low level constant pain that I’m always aware of but have begrudgingly gotten used to cause I have no other choice.” Marinette stared her in the eye. “How does it feel, Lila? How does it feel to know that you officially know more about me than the boy I’m in love with or the people that raised me?”

“You haven’t told me the secret.”

“And I never will.”

Lila let go of Marinette’s phone. A satisfied grin on her face.

She had come here in hopes of stealthily interrogating Lila and she was the one revealing all the personal stuff instead. She was supposed to be smarter than this. She can’t let Lila start manipulating her now.

The girls took a couple pictures of them hanging out before darting off to their own corners of the house. Marinette made her nest on the couch before searching for a closet to grab a blanket and pillow from.

It was still too early to go to bed so Marinette stayed up scrolling through social media and playing games on her phone. Eventually even those bored her and she called up Adrien to say goodnight.

“Hey, doodle bug,” Adrien answered, “How are things at Lila’s?”

“Boring. We took a couple photos and then she locked herself in her room. I’m hanging out on the couch until morning.”

“Sounds riveting.”

“I am so bored! I’d go to sleep but it’s not even nine.”

“Sorry to hear that. If I could steal you away to my place I would.”

“Trust me, I would much rather be hanging out with you.” Marinette paced around the living room looking over all the Lila baby pictures, “We could stay up late, eat junk food, play some video games, watch some movies.”

“Cuddle on the couch, makeout during the movie, fall asleep snuggled together.” Adrien listed.

“Stop teasing me with kissy faced sleepovers that aren’t going to happen.” Marinette giggled.

“They could.”

“Your dad won’t let your friends in to hang out for an hour. You really think he’s going to let your girlfriend stay the night? Especially in the same room as you’re insinuating.”

“I can dream, can’t I?”

“It sounds like a lovely dream.” Marinette crossed over to the fridge and looked for something to drink. “Why does she have so much almond milk?”

“What are you doing?” Adrien asked, confused.

“Raiding her fridge. No cheese or yogurt, do you think she’s lactose intolerant?”

“Is that where she keeps her secrets? The fridge?”

“Who knows maybe I’ll get lucky and find a bag of toes she uses in her satanic rituals.” Marinette closed the fridge. “Adrien, can I ask you something?’

“What’s on your mind?”

“Do you think that I am secretly really angry all the time?”

“Where’d this come from?”

“Lila may have gotten to me.”

“Does this have to do with the freak out you mentioned?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t just a bad day that she made worse. I’m really stressed about because of a thing that I can’t tell you about it and I’m having trouble coping with it all. I’ve been struggling to keep up with it for months now actually. I don’t think I realized how much it was bothering me until she pressured me.” Marinette plopped back down on the couch, “In her words, I just want to go ape-shit every day.”

“Whatever it is, no matter what it is, I’ll be here for you. You don’t need to tell me but if you ever do need to let loose and go ballistic then let me know. I’ll go insane right along with you.”

“You really want to join me in that storm?”

“We both have our demons. Maybe they can play together.”

Marinette felt a wave of affection for her boyfriend. “Adrien I...I…”

“Need to go ape-shit?”

“No. I wish I could kiss you over the phone.” She whispered, “I wish you were here to hug me and make it all feel farther away like you always do.”

They talked late into the night before Marinette eventually started to nod off. She yawned a goodnight and hung up.

\---

At first the scream annoyed Marinette. She had been woken up in the middle of the night by screams before and it was always an akuma. Did Hawkmoth never sleep?

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and went to the window. No akuma alarm.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

The scream was coming from Lila’s room.

Marinette swung off the couch and raced to see what was wrong. She was barely to the hall when the door opened and Lila stumbled out and pounded her fists against the wall.

“Lila!” Marinette tried to grab her but was thrown into the wall herself.

Lila kept screaming. She was knocking pictures off the wall and banging her entire body against the wall.

Her eyes were open. What was wrong? Marinette scrambled back out of her way as she moved down the hall towards the living room. Marinette hit the lights and got in front of Lila again. “Lila! What’s wrong?”

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” she screamed once more.

“LILA!” Marinette grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall. “WAKE UP!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“WAKE UP!” Marinette shook her. Lila was fighting back against her hard but Marinette wasn’t letting go. It was like she was so much stronger in this state. Whatever was happening Marinette had to stop it before she attracted an akuma.

Then just as if nothing ever happened Lila stopped fighting. Marinette let go of her and Lila looked around in confusion. Sweat was pouring off her but it was like she hadn’t even noticed.

“Lila?” Marinette tapped her to see if she was awake now.

Lila stared her in the face for a solid seven seconds before turning around and going back to her room. Marinette looked in and saw the room in a similar state as the hall. Pillows thrown across the room and blankets off the bed. The desk chair had been overturned. And there was Lila now lying fast asleep on her bed once again.

Was it a nightmare? Or was she sleepwalking? Maybe it was all an elaborate hoax to scare Marinette into running away. Though she doubted that considering Lila had been doing more harm to herself than anything else. Of course she did learn how to throw herself down stairs Marinette wouldn’t put it past her to try injuring herself for her own gain.

Regardless of the actual reason it seemed that Lila was fast asleep now. Marinette grabbed the pillows and blankets from the floor and put them back on the bed. She righted the chair before leaving. Once she was out in the hall she grabbed the pictures that had been knocked off the wall and hung them up once again. The only ones with broken glass were the couple Lila had thrown.

Marinette swept it all up and threw it away. A little clean up was better than dealing with an akuma.

She poked her head into Lila’s room once more but she was still sound asleep.

“Okay. That was really weird.” Marinette winced at her now sore arm. “And painful. Girl can really pack a punch when she’s unconscious.”

“Are you alright?” Tikki whispered.

“I’ll be fine. Just another tumble.” Marinette went back to her spot on the couch. “Night, Tikki.”

It took significantly longer for Marinette to fall back asleep after that. She tossed and turned on the couch and did a check on Lila at least twice to make sure she was okay before she finally settled.

She got in a couple more hours of sleep before the creaking of a door and the shuffling of someone entering the room woke her up again. A woman had walked inside with a suitcase next to her and a couple bags in her hands. She was smartly dressed and her hair was pulled back away from her face. 

“Oh hello,” the woman smiled, “I didn’t mean to wake you. I didn’t know Lila had anyone over.”

“Issokay” Marinette yawned, “You’re Lila’s mom?”

“Yes.” She set her bag down, “I just got in from a business trip in England. I was going to surprise Lila by bringing breakfast and it seems the surprise is for me.”

“Hm?”

“Oh I just mean that Lila never brings anyone over. She tells me about her friends and her boyfriend all the time but I’ve never gotten the chance to meet anyone. I was starting to worry she was making it all up.”

“Boyfriend?” Marinette had a feeling she knew who this was.

“Yes, a sweet boy named Adrien. I guess she has a job modeling with him now.”

“Right…” Marinette stood up. “Lila is working with Adrien but they aren’t dating.”

“Did they break up?”

“They were never dating. In fact,” Marinette pulled up her phone and showed Mrs. Rossi her background of Adrien kissing her cheek, “He’s dating me.”

“Not again…” Mrs. Rossi sighed.

“Again?” Marinette prodded further.

“Mom?” Lila walked into the kitchen. Her gaze drifted between Marinette and her mom in alarm. “You’re in early.”

“Good morning, darling.” Mrs. Rossi hugged her, “I decided to catch the first train home so I could surprise you with breakfast. Fresh baked croissants and I bought more coffee to make cappuccinos.”

“Thanks, mom. Uh, about Marinette--”

“It’s fine, Lila. It’s not like it’s a school night.” Mrs. Rossi opened the bag containing the croissants. They were from her parent’s bakery. “Lila, grab the jam and butter out of the fridge. You girls enjoy your croissants and I’ll get started on the cappuccinos. Oh Marinette was it, did you want a cappuccino or do you prefer something else?”

“Cappuccino is fine.” Marinette slathered a little strawberry jam on her croissant. “I see you visited my parent’s bakery on your way in.”

“Your parents own the Dupain-Cheng bakery?” Mrs. Rossi beamed, “Oh that is just lovely. Fluffiest croissants in all of Paris.”

“This is all well and good but, mom, you must be tired from your trip. Why don’t you go relax and not worry about the drinks.”

“Don’t worry, darling.” Mrs. Rossi assured her, “I am plenty awake.”

“Y’know, now that we’re all awake I was wondering if you could answer a question for me.” Marinette edged closer to the pair. Lila was watching her carefully waiting to refute anything she said.

“And what is that?”

“Last night I woke up to Lila screaming.” Marinette said, “She came stumbling out of her room banging against the wall and throwing stuff in her sleep. What was up with that?”

“Oh dear,” Mrs. Rossi tsked, “Lila suffers from night terrors occasionally. Especially when she’s stressed. I hope she didn’t scare you too bad.”

“I was more scared for her to be honest. It looked like she was really hurting herself but when I tried to wake her up nothing happened.”

“Waking her from night terrors can be incredibly difficult. Was anything broken?”

“The glass in some picture frames but that’s about it. As hard as she was hitting I was surprised she didn’t punch a hole in the wall.”

“Lila, didn’t you warn Marinette about your night terrors before hand?” Mrs. Rossi asked. “Especially if you two were up all night having fun. She’s supposed to relax before bed or else it puts her at greater risk of having an episode.”

“I think that’s enough, mom.”

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, darling.” Mrs. Rossi handed her a cappuccino. “I’m just glad that neither of you got hurt.”

“I woke up with my hands hurting and covered in sweat but everything was still right side up in my room.” Lila muttered to herself. “It couldn’t have been that bad.”

“I righted everything before I went back to bed. I didn’t know what was going on but I didn’t want you to wake up again and trip over something.” Marinette looked at Lila earnestly. Hate her as much as she wanted she wasn’t about to let her hurt herself.

“I need to brush my teeth.” Lila left leaving Marinette alone with her mom again.

Mrs. Rossi watched her leave with a sad smile. “How long have you and Lila been friends?”

“We didn’t really start hanging out until over a month ago.” Marinette answered, “Why?”

“Concerned mother. Lila has always had complications making and keeping friends. I hear from her about all the friends she has but then never see any of them. I have to go strictly off her word and I’ve learned that’s not always reliable.”

“Really?”

“Unless you’re lying about dating this Adrien too I think that proves it.” Mrs. Rossi sat down across from Marinette, “Which is why I was ecstatic to see you here this morning. Gives me a little hope that I’ve been doing something right. If she has a real friend like you around.”

Marinette didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t tell Mrs. Rossi that this friendship was all a sham but it felt gross to sit here and pretend that it was real. A feeling she was becoming well too accustomed to.

So with all the other times she swallowed the bile of truth and nodded.

“Look at me getting all emotional because she had a friend over for one sleepover.” Mrs. Rossi shook her head, “I fear all the travel has started to fry my brain. You help yourself to breakfast, I’m going to freshen up.”

Mrs. Rossi left back to her own room. This morning certainly hadn’t gone the way Marinette had thought. She could only wonder what Lila’s mom had meant before. She hadn’t seemed surprised when Marinette told her that Lila had lied about dating Adrien. She knew Lila was a liar or at the very least knew that she tended to exaggerate her relationships.

Marinette was forced to stick around for another hour or so to convince Mrs. Rossi of the friendship before leaving. Before she left Mrs. Rossi stopped her at the door and handed Marinette her phone number. “In case of an emergency.” she had said.

Marinette nodded again and left for home. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d be an emergency contact for Lila.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who keep reading and commenting and leaving kudos on this fic. I know I don't respond to comments a lot but I just wanted to make it clear that I do read and love every single one that comes through my inbox. I'm glad you enjoy what I write and I hope you stick around to see where it goes. Love ya!


	24. Twenty Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Christmas time in Paris and Adrien’s special date takes an unexpected turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/612866429315874816/for-better-or-worse-24

The weeks went by and soon the crisp autumn air was replaced with the first snowfall of the winter.

It had been almost two months since Fu left Paris and made Marinette the Guardian. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Akumas and sentimonsters still ran amok but the only real change was that they were seriously targeting Marinette during battles making things harder on her end. Thank goodness she had Chat Noir or else she would have been taken down weeks ago when the first wave of aggressive akumas hit.

Hawkmoth was not pulling any punches trying to get her miraculous now that she was also the Guardian. As a result Chat had gotten fiercely protective of her, even more so than usual. She understood the risk if she were to get put out of commission but his defence of her while grateful was also worrying. Now when she set everything right and he was brought back he was met with a bone crushing hug rather than a fist bump.

Maybe some of it had to do with her PTSD of Chat Blanc. It hurt seeing her friend and partner continuously pitted against her or taken from her again and again. It reminded her too much of that day. The day she almost wasn’t able to save him.

She shook the thought from her head and buried herself further under the blankets of her bed.

School was out for Christmas break but she still had to get up early to help out in the bakery. Christmas was only days away and the shop was full to bursting with seasonal shoppers. Marinette had jokingly started saying that her family lived in gingerbread house since the smell had permeated every inch of their house upstairs and into their clothes.

Before she fully nodded off she got a goodnight text from Adrien.

That was another thing. For days now her boyfriend had been strangely elusive. They still talked every day and saw one another when they could but there was something he was hiding from her. The only clue she had was that he asked her to keep this Friday evening free. No clue what for but she was excited to see what it is he had been so secretive about.

Friday eventually rolled around and Marinette awoke to a large wrapped box resting on her chaise. She rushed out of bed and went to see what it was. There was a note on top in Adrien’s handwriting.

_The temperature may be low  
But you give a warming glow  
Here lies a gift from me to you  
For I’d hate to see you turn blue  
Bundle up I’ll see you at seven  
For a date straight from heaven_

“AWWWW!” Marinette squealed holding the note close to her chest. “Tikki! Look at what he wrote me!”

“Look at what he sent you.” Tikki gestured to the box. “What do you think it is?”

“Let’s open it up and see.” Marinette took the lid off and gasped.

Inside was a swath of poinsetta red. She lifted the dress out of the box and gazed at it for a straight minute without saying anything. This was from Marinette’s own designs albeit with a few alterations.

An off the shoulder red dress with lace cascading from the neckline down the bust and top of the arms. The lace was so delicately woven to look like small snowflakes were falling down it. In the lace she found her name expertly hidden. She looked at the back and noticed the zipper was a small butterfly. The Agreste logo.

Adrien had brought her design to life with a collaboration with his father. This was a Gabriel Agreste collaborative original dress!

Marinette was going to start crying. When had he done this? How had he convinced his dad to do any of this? The material alone must have cost an arm and a leg. Not to even talk about constructing it and the amount of pleading and bargaining he did to get his dad to work on it.

“Marinette, you’re shaking.” Tikki rested on her shoulder.

“He got me this and--and--” Marinette gazed at the wrapped gift that was poking out of her closet. “What I got him doesn’t measure up to even half of this.”

“Your gift is wonderful and he’ll love it.” Tikki assured her.

“Right, you’re right,” Marinette grabbed a hanger and hung up the dress. She grabbed her steamer to iron out any wrinkles before going on with the rest of her day.

After breakfast she called Alya and her best friend was over soon to help her get ready. They spent a full twenty minutes just gushing over the outfit and freaking out over this mystery date Adrien had planned before they started getting ready.

The dress fit perfectly. She also slipped on a warm coat, a pair of low heels and some white wrist gloves to complete the look. She decided to keep her hair down since she knew Adrien liked it. A little make-up to brighten her face and she was ready.

Seven o clock came and a sleigh pulled up in front of the bakery. Adrien jumped out and ran inside.

“Good evening--” he slipped over his wet shoes and landed on the ground with a thud. “Ow.”

“Oh geez, are you okay?” Marinette ran to see him.

“I’m okay.” he stood up and dusted himself off. He was wearing a very sharp suit the same red as Marinette’s dress. “Nothing bruised but my ego.”

“I fear I may be rubbing my clumsiness off on you.” She straightened out his jacket. “You look very handsome. New suit?”

“Yeah. And you look beautiful.” He held her out at arms length so he could take it all in. “Do you like the dress?”

“I love it. I cannot believe you got it made. When were you looking through my design book?”

“It was that night like two weeks ago when we were playing video games and you had to run out and make a delivery for the shop in the middle of it. I may have gotten bored and started poking around. I found your design book and the dress and next thing I knew I was taking a picture of it and sending it to my dad.” Adrien shrugged sheepishly. “I know it isn’t exactly how you designed it but father assured me that the changes he made were for the better and it turned out well so I was hoping you would still like it like that.”

“It is spectacular. Although I don’t know how I feel about being spoiled like this. How much all of this must have cost--”

“It was never about how much it cost. I was only thinking about what I thought would make you the most happy.”

“And the sleigh?”

He grinned in that little mischievous way he occasionally did. “A dash of magic for the night. Shall we be on our way?”

“Wait, one second,” Marinette’s mom ran out from behind the counter with her camera. “You both look so nice. Let me get a picture.”

“Mom…” Marinette groaned, embarrassed.

“Just one, please!” her dad pleaded.

“Okay.” Adrien laced an arm around Marinette as they smiled at the camera. A couple photos later and they were finally free to go.

Marinette took Adrien’s arm as he helped her into the sleigh. Once they were seated they turned around to head to Le Grand Paris hotel for their dinner.

Snow softly drifted upon them as they rode down the street. Marinette stuck out her tongue trying to catch a flake. Adrien laughed before joining her. She would have been happy sitting there riding down the frosty streets laughing and cuddling close as they watched the snow fall. Maybe not all night though since it was supposed to get heavier as the night wore on.

They arrived at the hotel and went inside, cheeks tinted pink from the cold. Upon entering the restaurant they were immediately taken to their table. It was a prime spot right by the windows so one could look out over the city. The room was illuminated by candles burning softly on the tables. From some other corner classical music played adding to the already romantic atmosphere.

They ordered and Marinette’s gaze was lost out the window watching the snow. She always liked this side of winter. It was hypnotizing.

She felt a hand rest on top of hers tearing her from her focus out the window. She gazed back at Adrien who was playing idly with her fingers. He was staring intently at her with a content smile.

“Something on your mind?” she asked.

“I want to remember this moment.” He whispered, “It seems that we rarely ever get a quiet moment like this. No drama. No parents. No scheduling conflicts. It’s just us.”

Marinette held up her drink. “I’ll toast to that.”

Adrien held up his own glass. “To us.”

They clinked their glasses together.

_CRASH!_

The pair jumped. Marinette’s mind immediately assumed akuma but breathed out in relief when she saw it was just a dropped glass. The waiter apologized before going to clean up the shattered glass.

“Phew,” Adrien sighed, “For a second I thought I jinxed us.”

“Well now you jinxed us saying that!”

“No. It’ll be fine. Wanna know how I know?”

“How do you know?”

“Because I have this.” He pulled out the lucky charm Marinette had given him so long ago.

Her expression softened. She couldn’t believe that he still carried that around. “What a coincidence,” she opened her purse, “I brought my own lucky charm.’

She held up the charm Adrien made for her birthday.

“You carry that with you?” Adrien’s face split into a bewildered but pleased smile.

“Of course.” she tucked the charm back in her clutch. “You made it for me. It’s one of my most prized possessions.”

“If you are trying to make me cry in this restaurant then you are succeeding.”

“Don’t cry you big baby.” Marinette squeezed his hand. “We haven’t even gotten our entrees yet. We still have the rest of the night to shed some tears.”

“Tears of joy only.” he leaned across the table and kissed her. “There is one more surprise I have planned for tonight that I hope you are going to like.”

“The dress, the sleigh ride, the candlelit dinner, what else could you possibly have planned?”

Then the ghosts burst into the dining room. Pale blue figures swooped through the air diving at patrons and staff.

“I would like to make clear that the ghosts were not the surprise.” Adrien said.

Marinette kicked off her shoes so she could run and grabbed Adrien’s hand as they booked it out of the restaurant. Out in the halls was more of the same. Ghosts floated by causing havoc and scaring the daylights out of anyone they passed.

“I told you!” Marinette shook her head as she ran, “You jinxed us!”

“Why can’t we have one normal date!” They crashed into someone else. “Chloe?”

“Adrikins!” Chloe clung to him. “It’s just horrible! Daddy got akumatized!”

“How? What happened?”

“He was arguing with one of the workers about their time off for the holidays and it got really bad. Next thing I know the lackey comes barreling out of the room and daddy is some monster. He’s turning everyone into ghosts!”

“Marinette, go with Chloe. Find some place to lay low and stay safe the both of you!”

“What about you?” Marinette grabbed him before he could run off. “You need to stay safe too!”

“I uh...I need to make a call.”

“Who you gonna call?” Marinette looked at him incredulously.

“Ghost hunter people?” Adrien pulled her hand off him. “I promise I’ll be alright. Stay with Chloe and stay safe, my star.”

With that he took off. She wanted to run after him but at that moment more ghosts flooded the hallway and Marinette had to be tugged out of the way by Chloe. The two girls sped through the building with Chloe leading. “Don’t worry, Dupain-Cheng. Not only do you have a bonafide super heroine with you but I also know this place like the back of my hand.”

They rounded a few more turns before coming to a stairwell. They raced down and Chloe entered a code into a doorlock a couple floors down. She pushed some buckets out of the way and lifted a handle off the floor revealing a ladder down. “It’s a panic room. Get in and stay there.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Marinette shot at her.

“To the roof. I need to light the bee signal!” With that Chloe was racing back up the steps.

“You gotta admire the determination.” Marinette opened her purse. “And just like Hawkmoth to come in and ruin my date yet again! Let’s get this night back on track. Tikki, transform me!”

Marinette bound up the stairs until she got to the roof hatch. Chloe was outside huddling in the cold struggling to get her signal to turn on. “Get inside!” Marinette shouted at her, “Its not safe out here.”

“Ladybug! Good you’re here. I need--”

“Chloe, you know the dangers. Maybe another akuma. Right now I need you to get inside. Okay?”

Chloe looked dejected but nodded. She ran back inside. Hopefully she didn’t go running back to the panic room since Marinette wasn’t there.

Chat Noir showed up a minute later with a trail of ghosts on his tail. “Ladybug! Fancy meeting you here!” he yelled as he ran past her.

She rolled her eyes and went chasing after him. She swung her yo-yo at the ghosts but it passed right through. Typical.

They leapt from the top of the building to one of the neighboring ones in hopes of evading them. To their surprise the ghosts didn’t follow and instead went back into the hotel to haunt the guests. “Looks like out spectral friends are confined to the hotel. That could be good news for us.”

“How?” Chat Noir asked.

“It means that the akuma has got to be inside. We find him, defeat him, and this haunted holiday will be over.”

“Great. Any idea where in the hotel he could be? It’s pretty big.”

“Not a clue.” Marinette sighed, “But it’s safe to say that he’s got to be surrounded by the ghosts he creates. We find the largest group of ghosts and I say we find our akuma.”

“That should be easy.” Char Noir pointed across the street to the large windows of the hotel. One floor in particular glowed with a distinct blue light. “They seem to be having a party in the restaurant.”

“Let’s crash it, shall we?” They jumped back into the fray. They swung over to the building once again and took the elevator up to the restaurant floor.

The scene they entered was straight out of A Christmas Carol. Ghosts floated around the entire room moaning and bemoaning their fate. In the middle of it all was the only solid lifeform. He wore a gold coated suit and a matching top hat. In his hand was a large cane that he swung through the air shooting off bursts of red light. As soon as the blast hit something it would turn into a ghost. Even inanimate objects like tables and chairs started to float off the ground and join the tornado of chaos that was the circling ghosts.

“The akuma has got to be in his cane.” Marinette said. “But with all the ghosts it is going to be impossible to get close enough to grab it without being accosted his minions.”

“So what is the plan?”

“You’re not gonna like it.”

“I’m bait, aren’t I?” Chat frowned.

“Go in there and do what you do best, chaton.” she bumped him inside, “Annoy them!”

“I resent that!” he huffed before the ghosts took notice of him. “Oh hey guys, you haven’t seen a waiter around here have you? I’ve been waiting for a table for ages.”

The ghosts descended upon him and Chat Noir went running as he taunted the ghosts. Marinette inched forward closer and closer to the akuma. His attention solely on Chat Noir.

She almost had the cane.

“Trying to sneak up on old Humbug are you?” The akuma suddenly whirled around striking her with his cane and sending her flying through the air.

She landed right in front of Chat Noir and he tripped over her. “Falling for me again, Chat?”

“You’re hilarious.” he wheezed, “Oh that took the wind out of me.”

“Hawkmoth!” Marinette shot back to her feet in a rage. “If you can hear me in there, let it be known right now I am going to rip you in half for spoiling my date!” Marinette shouted at the akuma.

“Wait, date?” Chat Noir paused as he started to stand, “You’re dating someone?”

“Oh yeah, I guess I never mentioned that to you. I’m dating that boy I told you about before.”

“Since when?”

“Couple months.”

“And you’re now only telling me? I told you about my relationship right away!”

“I’m sorry. It just never came up.”

“Well I hope for his sake that he is treating you the way you deserve, my lady. I will not tolerate anything less than a perfect gentleman for you.”

“That’s sweet but you really don’t need to be worried. He’s the sweetest boyfriend ever. I mean the date he planned out for us tonight was so--”

“HEY!” Humbug snapped at them, “Spoiled rotten youth can’t even stay focused long enough to do their jobs! I’ll take great pleasure turning you into ghosts!”

“Right. We should probably deal with him first. Talk about boyfriends and girlfriends later.” Marinette summoned her Lucky Charm. “And our totally going to help us with this ghost infestation is a...table cloth? Would have preferred a proton pack but work with what I got.”

Marinette gazed around the room for assistance. How was she supposed to use this? Her eyes settled on the candles scattered across the room and a steak knife. She grabbed the knife and cut two holes in the table cloth.

“Chat Noir, we need this place dark!” she told him. “Snuff out those candles!”

“On it!” he leapt into action going around the room and blowing out all the candles until the only light came from the dim forms of the ghosts.

“Where did you go?” Humbug hollered. “Show yourselves! My ghosts, find them!”

“All candles have been neutralized, my lady.” Chat whispered as he found Marinette in the dark. “What’s the plan?”

Marinette threw the table cloth over her head so her eyes were poking out of the holes. “You’re the one with the night vision. Grab me and get me close to Humbug.”

“You got it, Bugaboo.” he snickered, “Get it? Bug-a-BOO. Cause you uh...you look like a...”

“I got the joke. But I do also want to get back to my date so if you could get on with it that would be great, Chat.”

“Right. Sorry.” he grabbed hold of her and used his staff to propel them into the air. The ghosts didn’t pay them much mind since Chat’s black suit let him blend in with the dark and Marinette’s costume convinced them she was one of them long enough for her eyes to adjust and get a fix on Humbug.

“Launch me!” Marinette shouted. Chat chucked her and Marinette went sailing.

She removed the table cloth and clutched it tightly as she connected with the akuma. She wrapped the table cloth around Humbug’s torso pinning his arms to his sides. She heard the clatter of the cane falling from his hands and she kicked it over to where she could see a faint pair of green eyes reflected in the distance.

A sharp crack echoed through the room and a small purple-ish fluttering light drifted up towards the ghosts. “No more evil doing for you!” Marinette captured and purified the akuma releasing a bright white butterfly into the air once more. “Miraculous Ladybug!” she threw the table cloth as well and the ladybugs appeared to right all the damages. The light returned and all the ghosts were replaced with the people they had been before.

Chat Noir strolled up to her with an outstretched fist. “Good job.”

Mayor Bourgeois blinked out of his post-akumatized stupor and gazed around confused. “What happened?”

“Daddy!” Chloe rushed into the room. “You’re back!”

“I think he’s in good hands.” Marinette nodded to Chat. “Which is good since I am about to transform back.”

“Better get going before your date misses you.” Chat said. “I expect to hear more about this new boyfriend of yours next time we’re on patrol, my lady. Don’t think that little revelation is going unchecked.”

“You sure you want to know?” Marinette was a little unsure herself. She knew how Chat Noir had gotten before when she mentioned the other boy. Even if he has a girlfriend now she doesn’t want him to get pouty on her.

“Absolutely. I gotta make sure he’s worthy of you.” He smiled. “Now get going.”

Marinette’s heart swelled with appreciation for her kitty and she ran out of the room. She made it to the stairwell before transforming back. Now she could finally get back to her date.

She was heading back up to the restaurant when the entire stairwell went dark. Please let it not be another akuma. She pulled up her phone flashlight and shined it around. The emergency exit signs were still on at least. She went through the nearest one and found the hall was also dark.

“Marinette!” she heard a voice calling her name, “Marinette! Where are you?”

“Adrien?” she called back. “I’m in the hall. Where are you?”

“Don’t move. I’ll come to you.” He shouted back. A minute later she saw her boyfriend come around the corner shining his own phone around. “Hey, long time no see.”

“What happened to the power?” Marinette asked.

“Looks like the storm that wasn’t supposed to start until midnight came early. Knocked out the power.”

“That’s perfect.” Marinette checked her phone and found that she had no service. “The ride home is gonna be less than pleasant I imagine.”

“I really hope you two dumb-dumbs aren’t thinking about going out in this weather.” The door next to them opened up to reveal Chloe. “It’s a blizzard out there.”

“What are we supposed to do then? Where are we supposed to stay?” Adrien asked.

Chloe gave him a deadpanned look. “Adrikins, sweetie, you’re in a hotel.”

“Oh right.”

“You are so lucky you’re cute.” Chloe rolled her eyes. “I’ll get the staff to give you two some rooms and some hotel pajamas.”

“Thanks Chlo!” Adrien hugged her. “But uh...can I ask a favor?”

“What?” Adrien leaned over and whispered something in her ear.

She looked back at him with an arched eyebrow. “You uh...are you two at that stage already? I mean it’s your life so I don’t want to impose but you aren’t even sixteen yet Adrien.”

“What does that have to do with what I asked?” Adrien’s face was starting to redden. “What do you think we’ll be doing?”

Chloe pulled him down to whisper in his ear. What was going on that they couldn’t mention in front of Marinette?

Adrien’s face was pure red now and his eyes the size of a startled deer. “Chloe!” he whined, “That’s not--I wasn’t--why would you think that?!”

“It seemed shady!”

“My intentions are purely PG!”

“Seems a little PG-13 if you ask me. Maybe NC-17 if things escalate.”

“It’s not that! Stop!” Adrien covered her mouth. “If it is that much of a hassle then forget what I just said.”

“Calm down, you pure little scoop of vanilla ice cream.” Chloe headed towards the stairwell. “I’ll do it. Be right back.”

Once Chloe was gone Marinette looked at Adrien whose face was still bright red. “What was Chloe talking about? What NC-17 things was she expecting from your request?”

“Please don’t ask.” Adrien murmured under his breath. “What am I saying that makes people think I mean _that!_ ”

Something clicked in Marinette’s brain and her own face started to heat up. “Uh...Adrien, I don’t know how to ask this so I’m just gonna go for it. Are you in any way asexual or demisexual? It’s totally cool if you are but I think I know now what she mentioned and your reaction was kinda…”

“No. No I am very interested--I’m mean not _very interested_ \--I am interested but not like super into it like in a weird way. More of like a normal teenager way.” he was floundering. Marinette may have found it cute if it wasn’t for how absolutely mortified he looked. “I uh...I um...I think I’m gonna go throw myself down the stairs. That seems good.”

“Get back here.” Marinette grabbed hold of him. “Sorry for embarrassing you. I can understand why you got all flustered but it isn’t something to be necessarily ashamed about. But we are still young and there is no rush for anything like that. Maybe some making out but nothing over that. Okay?”

“Okay.” he finally relaxed. “This really isn’t how I expected this date to go. I had it all planned. A perfect Christmas wonderland romantic date. The dress, the sleigh ride, a candle lit dinner overlooking the city, then we would take a walk down the Path of Swans where I had a sprig of mistletoe tied to one of the trees. We would kiss and everything would have been perfect.”

Adrien sighed heavily and leaned against the wall. “But of course Hawkmoth had to come in and ruin it with ghosts and the storm locked us inside with no heat or power. It’s turned into a disaster.”

“It wasn’t a disaster.” Marinette leaned against the wall next to him. “So things didn’t go according to plan. That doesn’t mean it was terrible. We still got to have half a dinner, the sleigh ride was fun, and you don’t need mistletoe to kiss me.”

“Does that mean we can kiss now?” he asked expectantly.

“I believe it does.” Marinette giggled.

He leaned in close and kissed her gently. “Good.”

“Can I get another?” She asked quietly.

“As many as you want.” He kissed her again.

And again.

And again.

And more and more until she felt his hands wander from a respectable place on her waist to lower on her hips. Her back was more firmly pressed against the wall as Adrien gently pinned her in place. Her heart was beating a mile a minute as their sweet kisses grew longer and deeper.

“Is this…” Adrien pulled away just enough to speak, “Is this okay?”

“Yes.” Marinette answered. His breath tickled her nose. She wove one hand to the back of his neck while the other rested on his waist. “Are you okay with this?”

“Yeah.”

Without the light of their phones shining anymore they were left in the darkness. Nothing to perceive but the other. The faint smell of the cologne he had put on for their date. The soft tickle of hair at the nape of his neck. The sweet yet hungry feel of his lips against her own.

She parted her lips slightly into the kiss. She knew what she wanted to do but part of her was too scared to do it. Why was she freaking out so much? She was French for goodness sake! French kissing is in her blood!

She calmed down and worked up the courage to just do it. He jumped at first and almost bit down on her tongue. Abort! Abort! Bad idea! Abort!

“Sor--Sorry!” she gasped turning her head away in embarrassment. “I didn’t--that was--that was stupid! I’m sorry!” She stammered.

“You uh, caught me by surprise is all.” Adrien said, “Could we maybe try that again?”

“Not gonna bite my tongue if I slip it into your mouth again, are you?” she teased.

“Now that I know it’s coming.” he laughed lightly. He turned her face back to him.

Their lips met again at the same time a bright light was shined at their face. “Break it up, lovebirds.” Chloe was standing a few feet away from them with a flashlight and a bag. “I leave you two alone for five minutes and you’re devouring each others faces in the dark.”

“We were just--”

“Making out in a dark corridor. Are you sure you don’t want those con--”

“We don’t need them!” Adrien shrieked over Chloe. “Please just give us the keys and pajamas.”

“Here you go.” Chloe handed over the bag containing the pajamas. There was also a flashlight, some candles, a box of matches, and a few snacks inside. “You’re in room 648. Have a nice night.”

“Thanks Chloe. Good night.” Adrien grabbed Marinette’s hand and started pulling her along.

“Oh and Adrien,” Chloe called after him, “Behave yourself!”

Adrien didn’t answer but the sound of Chloe’s laugh echoed down the hall as they left her behind. They eventually found the room and walked in. It was a spacious suite with a small living area and bedroom. Large windows lent a great view of the city.

Marinette started taking out candles and setting them around the room to add some light. She stopped when she entered the bedroom portion of the suite and saw there was only one bed.

“Hey, sunshine,” Marinette said, “Was this favor you asked of Chloe be that there be only one bed in our room? Or that we share a room in the first place instead of each of us getting our own.”

“...maybe.”

Marinette laughed as she set down another candle. “Didn’t think we’d actually get that kissy faced sleepover we were joking about a couple weeks ago. And yet here we are.”

“It doesn’t freak you out, does it?” Adrien emerged from the bathroom in his pajamas. “Cause I can always take the couch if--”

“Shut up and start unpacking the snacks.” Marinette pulled her own pajamas out of the bag. “I’m gonna get changed and then maybe we can pick up where we left off in the hall.”

Even in the dim light of the candles Marinette could see the blush on his cheeks. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his forehead.

They spent the rest of the night eating snacks and talking and telling bad jokes in between short make out sessions. When neither could keep their eyes open any longer they settled into bed. Adrien pulled Marinette flush against him so they were spooning under the warm covers.

“Sweet dream, my star.” Adrien yawned.

“Sweet dream, my prince.” Marinette smiled before drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep making a lot of borderline inappropriate jokes and innuendos so I'm just gonna bump the rating up to T now.
> 
> (also did you catch the Ghostbusters references? I did nothing to hide them.)


	25. Twenty Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette has been watching a lot of The Good Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original post on tumblr: https://dakota-r-riley.tumblr.com/post/617238787031023616/for-better-or-worse-25

Marinette woke up the next morning the happiest she had felt in a long time. She was half convinced before she had opened her eyes that it had all been a dream. But when she looked next to her there was Adrien sleeping soundly with his arms around her. She nestled closer into him tucking her head underneath his chin. She wanted to remember this moment.

Adrien stirred and woke up with a large yawn. He stretched greatly like he was some big cat before his eyes came to rest on Marinette. “Good morning.”

“Morning.” She kissed his nose. “Sleep well?”

“Best sleep I’ve gotten in months.” He pulled her close again. “How long do you think we can get away laying in bed before someone comes to ruin it?”

A knock on the door made them both groan. “Not long apparently.” Marinette swung out of bed. She padded over to the door and opened it. “Oh, hi Chloe, didn’t expect to see you here this early.”

“Early? It’s nearly noon.” Chloe rolled her eyes and strode into the room without an invitation. “Adrien, you better have pants on!” She yelled to the suite.

“Why wouldn’t I have pants on?” Adrien grumbled as he came out to greet her. His bed head was sticking out in all directions. “What’s up?”

“It’s almost noon. I thought you two would have been awake by now.” Chloe poked him in the chest, “Just how late were you two up last night?”

“Fairly. We were having fun.”

“Yeah, I bet you were.” Chloe mumbled under her breath.

“Not like that!” Adrien was red in the face again. “Why do you keep assuming that?”

“Cause it’s funny watching you turn colors.” She tried to straighten out his bedhead. “How do you get this to cooperate? I swear your hair has a mind of its own.”

“Uh Chloe,” Adrien gently pushed her back, “Not that I don’t like our chats but what are you doing here?”

“Oh right, your bodyguard is down in the lobby waiting to take you home. He’s been waiting for over an hour.”

“Crap!” Adrien dove for his phone now that the storm had passed. “Oh that’s a lot of calls.”

“You can’t get in trouble for spending the night here. The storm was terrible.” Marinette assured him, “It would have been foolish to try and brave it.”

“Right, you’re right,” Adrien breathed a little easier, “But we should be going. Your parents are probably worried about you too.”

“You’re probably right.” Marinette sighed. “I guess I’ll go get dressed.”

“I’ll leave you to it. You can leave the pajamas in the room and staff will clean them up.”

“Thanks Chlo!” Adrien hugged her. “Tell Gorilla that we’ll be down soon.”

“Got it.” Chloe sauntered back out of the room.

It was still strange to Marinette to see Chloe being so casual and normal. Was this what she was always like when she wasn’t trying to impress everybody? It was like she was a normal teenager or something.

After the pair slipped back into their clothes from last night they went down to the lobby to catch their ride home. It was a quick trip from the hotel to Marinette’s house where they dropped her off. It was a short goodbye with barely a kiss exchanged before Adrien’s bodyguard was honking at him to get back in.

And that was the last she had seen of him in person until winter break was over. They talked and did video calls but between the bakery being swamped with Christmas orders and Adrien’s dad being a self-isolating jerk, they didn’t get the chance. The closest Marinette got was dropping off his Christmas present at the house.

It was a lonely couple of weeks. But the new year had started and Marinette was looking forward to the future. Walking into school after break she greeted her friends and everyone milled about catching up. Alya was talking to her but Marinette was only half listening as she kept a weather eye on the entrance door. Class was going to start any minute, where was Adrien?

“--and then I told Nora that if she was going to bring her girlfriend over she should have at least told me ahead of time so I could have helped mom make more boudin but no! So there we are sitting around a table fighting over the last one when the twins...are you listening?” Alya poked her.

“Sorry, no.” Marinette slumped further in her seat. “Adrien should have been here by now.”

“You sweet little puppy.” Alya pet her head, “I get you haven’t seen him since your romantic hot and heavy date back in December but you need to stop looking so mopey. He’ll show up eventually.”

“There wasn’t anything hot nor heavy about our date.” Marinette felt her face grew warm at the mention of it.

"Being pinned against a wall wasn't at all hot?"

"Okay that was kinda hot. But it was definitely undercut by him almost biting my tongue."

The girls laughed about it quietly amongst themselves. Class soon started and Adrien came running in barely making it in time. He apologized to Ms. Bustier claiming that he had overslept before slipping into his seat. “Oh wait,” he stood up again and came over giving Marinette a quick kiss, “I missed you! Thanks for the mittens!”

Those same mittens squished her cheeks as he had yet to take them off yet. “You’re welcome. I missed you too.” Marinette giggled.

Alya rolled her eyes. “Feel better?” Marinette nodded.

All during class they kept glancing at each other like love sick idiots and had gotten chastized by both the teachers for not paying attention and by their friends for being distracting. It wasn’t like they had been apart for months with no contact, it was at most two weeks with phone calls and video dates. The only reason no one was telling them to knock it off was because they were still in the honeymoon phase and didn’t want to ruin it for them yet. This had been the relationship everyone in class had been betting on months prior. Classes rolled by until it was time for lunch. No one wanted to brave the cold outside so stepped up to the cafeteria for lunch. Adrien and Marinette sat down at a table by themselves. No one wanted to butt into their alone time since it had been so long since they had any. That and no one was willing to brave being that close to their sickening amounts of mushy pet talk.

Well...almost no one.

“Wow, this place is packed today.” Lila approached their table, “Care if I join you?”

“Not at all.” Marinette slid closer to Adrien’s side so Lila couldn’t wedge herself between them. Lila evaluated the position before letting out a small huff and sitting down across from them. Briefly Marinette wondered if she started making out with Adrien right there if she could scare Lila off that way. Tempting, for multiple reasons, but ultimately not a great plan so resigned herself to the meal with Lila.

“Bleh,” Adrien spit out the sandwich he was eating, “That was gross.”

“What did you get?”

“Tuna salad sandwich. I thought I would try something different and I like that fish quiche your parents made but this is just blech.” Adrien pouted as he put the sandwich back down.

“Here, you can split my lunch.” Marinette handed over half of her own sandwich.

“Don’t you need it?”

“Nah, I have some snacks in my bag.” She pulled out a small bag filled with meringues.

“Why can’t I have those instead?”

“Don’t be greedy. I already gave you my sandwich.”

“Can I at least have one?”

“I don’t know. You are a model after all. Should you be having sweets?”

“Marinette you know for a fact I haven’t been following my father’s diet regime since I was thirteen. Now hand over the meringues.”

“No!” Marinette held them out of reach. Adrien grabbed her and tried wrestling them from her. “Leave my meringues alone!”

“Just one!”

“Fine!” Marinette took one out and licked it. “There.”

“I know exactly where that tongue has been so if you think a little spit is gonna stop me from eating this you are wrong.” Adrien crammed the meringue in his mouth. “Victory!”

“You are such a dork.” Marinette chuckled. “It is a good thing you are so cute.”

“A cute dork; isn’t that what everyone strives to date?”

“Are you saying that I am a cute dork?”

“I mean I feel like you are more adorable spazz than cute dork.”

“Well at least I’m adorable.”

“The most adorable.” Adrien kissed her cheek.

“Oh for god’s sake,” Lila muttered just barely catching Marinette’s attention. She had forgotten Lila was there for a minute. Lila had a small scowl on her face as she pushed her pasta around in her bowl. “I would have gotten salad if I’d known I was also going to be among the talking cheesecake.”

Adrien snorted. Both girls looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Sorry, it was just like the perfect analogy. We are both cheesy and sweet so...”

“You heard that?” Lila withdrew more into herself. 

“Were we not meant to?” Adrien asked.

“A talking cheesecake huh? Seems about right.” Marinette chuckled too. “Which one of us is the sweet and which one of us is the cheese.”

“Adrien is the cheesy one.” Lila answered without hesitation.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Why am I the cheesy one?” Adrien whined defensively.

“Besides the bad jokes and painful puns?” Marinette smirked.

“Hey! My jokes are not that bad!” His voice pitched up another octave.

“You also literally always have cheese on you.” Lila said. “I asked if he had any gum at our last photoshoot and he pulled out three empty containers of camembert from his bag.”

Adrien opened his mouth to say something but could come up with no defense.

“Sunshine,” Marinette leaned on him, “I have to ask. Why out of all the cheese in the world you chose camembert?”

“I couldn’t say…” Adrien shifted in his seat. “Why is this about me suddenly? Can’t a guy just like cheese?”

“Of course you can, sweetie.” Marinette kissed his cheek. “I think your cheesiness is very cute. But if you try kissing me with cheese breath I will shove about twenty mints into your mouth first.”

“Better you than me. He’d probably aggravate my lactose intolerance.” Lila let out a small, almost genuine laugh.

The tension around the table had all but evaporated. For a brief pocket of time there was no scheming, no facades, no blackmail. It was three teens sitting at a table enjoying their lunch and teasing one another. As quickly as it began Lila seemed to realize that she wasn’t pretending anymore and threw her walls back up, setting her face to a rehearsed smile as she quickly left the table. Marinette almost called for her to stay but she was already out the door before either her or Adrien could react.

“That was strange, right?” Adrien asked after Lila had left.

“Yeah, she seemed almost normal.” Marinette’s mind was drawn back to the sleepover she had endured at Lila’s house and the talk she had with Mrs. Rossi. She had mentioned that Lila had trouble making and keeping friends. “I think we got a glimpse at what Lila is really like. Strip away the lies and deception and there may be a normal person under there.”

“Or she is just that good at pretending.” Adrien shrugged. “That doesn’t change because we were able to joke around with her for five minutes.”

“I know but…” Marinette let out a deep sigh. She looked at Chloe who was having a laugh with Sabrina a couple tables over. “I’ve seen what can happen when you give someone a chance. Send a little love, a little support their way and walls start to crumble. They become more at ease with who they truly are.”

“Marinette,” Adrien gave her a sympathetic smile, “I love that you are willing to give people another chance. It’s one of the things I admire about you. But the fact of the matter is we have given Lila a chance before. Multiple chances! She’s only ever proven to take advantage when we do. What makes you think this time will be any different?”

“I know. Trust me, I know. But--” she drummed her hands on the table, “--I can see something. There’s a crack in her mask. The illusion is faltering. If there is a chance that I can get the mask to shatter before she has time to fix it then shouldn’t I try to? This isn’t about exposing her. I want to...I want to help her if I can. Help her see that she doesn’t need to lie and manipulate to have friends.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I think that may be part of why she lies so much. She tells everyone what they want to hear and puts herself on this pedestal with these stories because it is easier to draw people in that way. If you give people what they want then they’ll stick around. It is so easy that way. But showing someone who you truly are and having them reject you for just being yourself can hurt. You literally aren’t good enough for them.”

“So she lies out of pride?’

“She lies out of fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of isolation. Fear of never a having a friend.” Marinette took his hand, “Can you imagine at all what your life would have been like if you didn’t have any friends? If you were still homeschooled and didn’t even have Chloe to talk to growing up? Wouldn’t you do whatever you thought other people would like to make friends?”

“Sounds like hell.”

“I didn’t really have any friends until I was six. I was a really shy kid and all the other kids that would try to talk to me soon stopped trying when I would clam up or even run away cause I was so scared.”

“But you are so outgoing and friendly though. I would have thought mini-Marinette would have ruled the playground as a benevolent princess.”

“The only princess on the playground was Chloe.” Marinette scoffed, “It is so strange to think of now but back then before she met Sabrina we used to hang out a lot at school. Well I say hang out but it was more or less a long game of princess and servant. By doing whatever she said I was making her happy and I thought that was friendship up until I tried inviting her over to my house for a playdate and she turned me down hard. Then Rose found me crying in a corner, gave me a flower to make me feel better, and we ended up having slumber parties every other week.”

“That’s so cute.”

“And you see what I mean. I put myself out there looking for friendship once and got hurt. If it wasn’t for Rose comforting me I don’t know how I may have turned out today. Lila isn’t as easy to quell as a six year old but I think that means she needs more support. How long has she been without a genuine friend if she even ever has had one?”

“You know, I say all the time that you are our school’s everyday Ladybug but I think I need to amend that statement.” He cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand, “Ladybug should strive to be our Marinette. She saves the city all the time and that is amazing. But I don’t know if even the great Ladybug could be as optimistic and forgiving as my Marinette.”

Tears started to pour out from her eyes before she could stop them. Did Adrien really think that highly of her? Obviously he did or he wouldn’t have said it.

“Oh no, don’t cry,” Adrien wiped her tears away with a napkin, “I wasn’t trying to make you cry.”

“You dork.” Marinette hugged him tight. “Thank you.”

He hugged her back. “I mean it. Your optimism is incredible but I also want you to keep a dose of reality in your mind. I don’t want you to try and try with Lila and end up getting hurt because of it again.”

“Don’t get my hopes up. I know.” Marinette assured him. “Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Isn’t that how the saying goes?”

“Promise me you’ll be careful.” Adrien stressed.

She pulled back and kissed him. “I promise.”

She had to come up with a way to show Lila that her efforts were not a scam first or else it would all be for not. Lila needed a reason to trust her. With all of their interactions thus far that would prove a momentous task in of itself. She was gonna need some back up for this.


End file.
